AI Article Synopsis

  • Oral care is crucial for preventing aspiration pneumonia in older adults, but the effectiveness of different oral care methods in reducing saliva bacteria remains unclear.* -
  • A study involving healthy adults and older patients showed no link between plaque levels and saliva bacteria, and although brushing increased bacteria, mouthwashing helped return levels to normal.* -
  • The findings suggest that while brushing can disperse bacteria, simply wiping does not eliminate them, indicating that rinsing the mouth after brushing is important.*

Article Abstract

Background: Oral care is important in preventing aspiration pneumonia in older adults. However, it is not clear what kind of oral care can reduce the number of bacteria in saliva. The purposes of this study are to clarify whether there is a relationship between plaque amounts and salivary bacterial counts, and how bacteria dispersed into the oral cavity by brushing can be reduced.

Methods: First, saliva samples were collected from 10 healthy adult volunteers after 30 h of unbrushing and after thorough brushing, and the total bacterial count was determined by real-time PCR. Next, 40 older adults attending an outpatient dental clinic were randomly assigned into two groups: a wiping group (20 patients) and a mouthwashing group (20 patients). Saliva was collected before and after brushing, and after wiping in the wiping group and after mouthwashing in the mouthwashing group, and the total bacterial count was quantified by real-time PCR.

Results: In a study of volunteers, there was no association between plaque amounts and salivary bacterial counts. In a study of older adult patients, salivary bacterial counts were significantly higher in patients with higher oral hygiene index and fewer remaining teeth. Brushing increased salivary bacterial counts. Wiping did not significantly reduce the number of bacteria, while mouthwash returned the increased number of bacteria after brushing to the pre-brushing level.

Conclusions: There is no direct relationship between the amount of plaque and the number of bacteria in saliva. Brushing disperses bacteria into the oral cavity, resulting in a marked increase in the number of bacteria in saliva. Wiping does not collect the dispersed bacteria, and it seems essential to rinse the mouth after brushing.

Trial Registration: UMIN000045854.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10675882PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12903-023-03676-7DOI Listing

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