Good oral health in institutionalized elders may help protect them from contracting potentially deadly pneumonia when hospitalized, said researchers in a study published in the November issue of the journal Chest.
Researchers from The State University of New York at Buffalo studied long-term care facility residents who were admitted to a hospital intensive care unit and who required a respirator. They excluded patients who had pneumonia when admitted or who developed pneumonia within 72 hours, had a low platelet count or blood-clotting disorders, had received antibiotic therapy or been hospitalized within the past 60 days, needed immunosuppressive drugs or had no teeth or dentures.
Researchers assigned a dental plaque score to each of the remaining 49 subjects after an oral examination. They then collected plaque samples to determine the types of bacteria present. Of the 49 patients, 28 had respiratory pathogens in their dental plaque samples.
Ten patients from the pathogen group and four from the no-pathogen group subsequently developed pneumonia. Researchers assayed the fluid samples collected from subjects with pneumonia to determine the type of bacteria present. They found that of 13 pathogens isolated from lung fluid, nine were a genetic match to those recovered from the dental plaque of the corresponding patient.
"These findings indicate that dental plaque is a reservoir of respiratory pathogens that can cause pneumonia in hospitalized institutionalized elders," said lead author Ali A. El-Solh, M.D., M.P.H. "We need to investigate the relationship between the burden of dental disease and the incidence of respiratory events.
"In the meantime, nursing homes and other institutions housing frail elderly should be involved actively in improving daily oral hygiene of their residents and enhancing access to dental care," he said.
