The correlation between improvement in oral health, reduction in oral bacterial concentration, and status of pneumonia hospitalization remains unclear. To determine the effects of professional oral care intervention on the index of oral health, salivary and sputum bacterial concentrations, and pneumonia hospitalization status of nursing home residents using a quasi-experimental study. Two nursing homes were on demand selected as the intervention and control groups; in the intervention group, weekly professional oral care was administered in addition to regular oral care by trained dental hygienists. Demographic data and oral health status were analyzed. Total salivary and sputum bacterial concentrations were determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
220
Besides routine oral cleaning was conducted by caregivers, professional oral care intervention was conducted by dental hygienists, and it included muscle massage, oral cleaning, and oral health education once a week.
Pneumonia hospitalization status
Hospitalization prevalence and days of each hospitalization due to pneumonia were collected from medical records by questionnaire.
Time frame: 2 hours
Bacterial concentrations
Total salivary and sputum bacterial concentrations were determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Staphylococcus aureus (strain ID: ATCC 29213) was used to create the standard growth curve of bacteria. After overnight culture, the samples were prepared by 5-fold serial dilution with normal saline and plating in a Petri dish to produce 2.5×103 to 3.9×107 CFU/mL of bacteria. Genomic DNA of bacteria was extracted from 1 mL of each bacterial serial solution using the modified standard method, which followed three basic steps: lysis, precipitation, and purification. The DNA extracts were resuspended in 20 µL of distilled water and stored at -80°C until real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification. The standard curve of bacterial concentration was generated by the bacterial 16S rRNA gene using a serial dilution of Staphylococcus aureus genomic DNA and StepOnePlus Real-Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems).
Time frame: 3 hours
Oral health examinations
Oral health examinations were conducted by two trained dentists, and data on plaque, gingival, and tongue coating indexes were collected by oral examination tables.
Time frame: 3 hours
Demographic data
Demographic data included gender, age groups, conscious, educational level, and nutritional route, which were collected by questionnaire.
Time frame: 1 hour
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