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Brushing your teeth daily while in hospital could reduce the risk of common infection
New research claims that brushing your teeth while in hospital for medical treatment can reduce the rates of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia.
Hospital-acquired Pneumonia (HAP) is one of the biggest issues facing the medical industry today, especially in patients who have received mechanical ventilation, i.e., incubation and equipment to help them breathe. This week, new research has indicated that something as cheap and easy as brushing a patient’s teeth can go a long way to ensuring lower rates of pneumonia.
Researchers find link between toothbrushing and pneumonia rates
The National Library of Medicine recently reported that HAP occurs at a rate of 5 to 10 per 1000 hospital admissions, with over 90% of HAP infections occurring in ICU patients who are intubated and mechanically ventilated.
Despite all of these cases being extensively documented, doctors and nurses still struggle to find ways to prevent HAP from occurring in their most vulnerable patients.
Now, a team of researchers from the Brigham and Womens Hospital, and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute have found that daily toothbrushing is tied to lower rates of pneumonia among hospitalized patients.
The researchers analyzed data from 2,786 patients across 15 clinical trials and found that hospital-acquired pneumonia rates were lower among patients randomized to daily toothbrushing, particularly among patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation.
Daily toothbrushing was also linked to a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation, shorter stays in the intensive care unit, and lower ICU mortality rates.
Co-author Michael Klombas, an expert in infectious diseases, said that The signal that we see here towards lower mortality is striking adding that it suggests that regular toothbrushing in the hospital may save lives.
“It’s rare in the world of hospital preventative medicine to find something like this that is both effective and cheap. Instead of a new device or drug, our study indicates that something as simple as brushing teeth can make a big difference.”
Speaking on the impact of this research, Klompas noted that these results emphasize the importance of implementing an oral health routine that includes toothbrushing for hospitalized patients.
Our hope is that our study will help catalyze policies and programs to assure that hospitalized patients regularly brush their teeth. If a patient cannot perform the task themselves, we recommend a member of the patient’s care team assist.
Similarly, in cases where patients are from a low-income background or fail to have an established support network, hospitals should consider providing their own supply of toothbrushes to those patients who may need them the most.
Future research is vital in situations such as this with the team noting that additional studies into the effects in non-ICU patients are needed in order to clarify their results for a broader sample. That being said, its a fascinating area of research and one that should result in lower mortality rates in hospitalized patients.
The research paper is available through the JAMA Internal Medicine journal.
