title: The impact of hospitalization on dental plaque accumulation: an observational study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of hospitalization on oral health as assessed by dental plaque.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational study in a critical care unit (CCU). Participants were recruited within 24 h of admission. Dental plaque amount was assessed at baseline, 1 and 2 weeks using the Debris index-soft deposits (Greene & Vermillion 1960).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty participants were recruited with 36 available for outcome assessment at 1 week and 10 at 2 weeks. The principal reason for losses was early discharge with no evidence of a difference between patients present only at baseline and those present at 1 week. The median value for dental plaque at baseline was 4 (95% CI: 4, 6). The median dental plaque increase from baseline to week 1 was 1.5 (95% CI: -1, 4), and this was statistically significant (p = 0.04). The median increase from week 1 to week 2 was 1.0 (95% CI -8, 6) and not statistically significant (p = 0.68).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral health as assessed by dental plaque deteriorates following hospitalization in CCU. Such change could lead to impairment of quality of life and well-being as well as to increasing the risk of important healthcare-associated infections such as nosocomial pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Periodontology and International Centre for Evidence-Based Oral Health, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London, UK. i.needleman@.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Needleman
authors.forename: Jung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hyun-Ryu
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brealey
authors.forename: Mishal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sachdev
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moskal-Fitzpatrick
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bercades
authors.forename: Janette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nagle
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Agudo
authors.forename: Aviva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrie
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suvan
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Donos
authors.forename: Mervyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene