Nursing home oral health care measures and pneumonia

The study highlights that there is limited understanding by family carers and older people of funding arrangements, and it often falls to the care home providers to supply information.

This Cochrane review update of the effects of oral care measures in preventing nursing home-acquired pneumonia inlides 6 RCTs. Low-certainty evidence suggests that professional oral care may reduce mortality compared to usual care when measured at 24 months but evidence for other effects is inconclusive.

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Miswak use for periodontal health in adults

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This review of the effectiveness of the miswak in reducing plaque and gingivitis in adults included 9 RCTs. The included studies were small with the findings indicating that the miswak reduced plaque and gingivitis scores to a level comparable to toothbrush in the short term.

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Power toothbrushes – Sonic or oscillating-rotating?

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This review of the efficacy of oscillating-rotating power toothbrush compared to high-frequency sonic power toothbrush includes 32 RCTs. The findings show moderate certainty evidence in favour of the oscillating-rotating however the clinical relevance may not be important.

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Oral health self-care behaviours in people with a serious mental illness

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This review of the of oral health self-care behaviours in people with serious mental illness (SMI) included 33 studies. Most of the included studies (18) were cross-sectional and a mjority (20)were considered to be of weak design.

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Top Dental Elf Blogs: Oct – Dec 2021

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Amoxicillin and metronidazole as an adjunct to full-mouth scaling and root planing, malignant transformation on oral lichen planus and toothbrushing to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia was out most popular blogs between October to December 2021.

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Ventilator-associated pneumonia: Does toothbrushing with chlorhexidine reduce risk?

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This review of the effect of toothbrushing and chlorhexidine on the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients on mechanical ventilation included 7 RCTs. The findings showed that toothbrushing and chlorhexidine reduced VAP,length of stay and duration of ventilation. However the findings should be interpreted cautiously because of study quality.

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Flossing: Before or after brushing?

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This review comparing the clinical performance of flossing before or after toothbrushing included two small RCTs involving a total of 60 patients. The findings suggest no difference with the use of floss before or after toothbrushing however the quality of the evidence is limited.

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Rubber bristles interdental cleaners as an adjunct to toothbrushing

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This review of the efficacy of rubber bristles interdental cleaners (RBIC) as an adjunct to toothbrushing (TB) included 6 RCTs. The findings provide weak to very weak certainty evidence for the use of RBICs for gingivitis and plaque reduction.

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Oral hygiene for critically ill patients

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This Cochrane review updated assessing the impact of oral health measures on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation in intensive care includes 40 RCTs and suggests that Chlorhexidine mouthwash or gel, as part of oral health measures, probably reduces the incidence of developing VAP.

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Promoting parental supervised toothbrushing practices

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This review of interventions promoting parental supervised toothbrushing practices to reduce caries in children under 8 years included 42 studies. Few of the interventions were underpinned by theory and methodological rigour in their development and evaluation so future interventions need to be guided by complex intervention methodology.

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