Aspiration Pneumonia Linked to Poor Dental Health

Following research on 95 elderly patients from a nursing home who were hospitalized for aspiration pneumonia, investigators concluded that the bacteriology associated with their disease could have come from microorganisms colonized in either their dental plaque or oropharyngeal cavity at the time of aspiration.

Aspiration pneumonia consists of inflammation of the lung and bronchi caused by inhaling or choking on vomit. The investigators looked at the relationship of aspiration pneumonia to oral hygiene by using quantitative bronchial sampling combined with multiple sets of other data. They concluded that poor dental health in nursing home patients due to lack of professional dental care and poor oral hygiene could easily have led to an environment that promoted the colonization of dental plaque by anaerobic and Gram-negative organisms. Of the 67 pathogens identified, Gram-negative enteric bacilli comprised 49%, anaerobic bacteria comprised 16%, and Staphylococcus aureus comprised 12%. The crude mortality rate among the patients studied was 33% for the anaerobic group.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine (NY, USA), was published in the June 15, 2003, issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The authors noted that neither nursing home staff nor physicians appeared to give high priority to the oral care of residents.




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