When patients in the intensive care unit receive oral care from a dentist, they are at significantly less risk of getting a lower respiratory tract infection, like ventilator-associated pneumonia, according to a study in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
In the study, researchers analyzed data from 254 patients who stayed in the ICU for at least two days. Some of the patients in the study received "enhanced" oral care — teeth brushing, tongue scraping, calculus removal, atraumatic restorative treatment of caries, tooth extraction and topical application of chlorhexidine — from a dentist while in the ICU, and some received routine oral hygiene from an ICU nurse, which involved mechanical cleansing using gauze and the application of chlorhexidine three times a day.
Compared to the control group, patients who received enhanced care from a dentist were 56 percent less likely to get a respiratory infection in the ICU.
"Bacteria causing healthcare-associated infections often start in the oral cavity," said Fernando Bellissimo-Rodrigues, MD, the study's lead author. "This study suggests that having a dentist provide weekly care as part of the ICU team may improve outcomes for vulnerable patients in this setting."