The simple act of tooth brushing at least once per day can lower a patient's risk of getting infected with hospital-acquired pneumonia, according to a study published Dec. 18 in JAMA.
For the meta-analysis, researchers looked at data of 2,786 patients from 15 randomized clinical trials. Not only was it apparent from the results that when patients brush their teeth at least once per day, their risk for hospital-acquired pneumonia is lowered, but other benefits emerged as well.
Daily tooth brushing was also linked to patients having a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation, a shorter length of stay in the ICU and lower ICU mortality. Brushing twice a day yielded similar results.