Trying to clean the mouth of someone with swallowing issue can be traumatic. The task is made even more complex if the person has dementia and may not want to co operate even though you know it is for their own good.
The importance of oral hygiene
Oral hygiene is essential for everyone, perhaps even more so for people with dysphagia as bacteria in the mouth can increase the risk of aspiration pneumonia. People with swallowing difficulties also have the added risk of aspirating toothpaste or anything else in the mouth during the teeth cleaning process.
People with dysphagia are more susceptible to aspiration pneumonia, however, studies have shown dysphagia alone is generally not sufficient to cause pneumonia unless other risk factors are present such as poor oral hygiene due to aspirated material being heavily colonised with bacteria.
Good oral hygiene can help minimise the risk of aspiration. Tooth brushing twice a day is recommended. I know, this may seem hard to achieve. I have to say that we struggled with oral healthcare with Dad and the information below would have helped us immensely.
Realistic Oral Care Management of Individuals with Dysphagia
When cleaning the mouth of someone with swallow difficulties extra care should be taken to reduce the risk of aspirating toothpaste or any debris that may be present in the mouth. Due to poor chewing and swallow function means that there is likely to be food stagnation in the oral cavity increasing the risk of dental decay leading to toothache and possible tooth loss.
We came across the following web site Knowledge Oral Healthcare that providing information on this subject.
For more information click the link below to their fact sheet giving advice on ‘Dysphagia and Mouthcare Management’ and on ‘Strategies for people that resist’.
It may be difficult to get people to accept oral healthcare. If all else fails then with a smile, say that you’ll come back later.Click the link below for more information.
Growing Smiles is a supplier of products to help with oral health care such as suction toothbrush to ensure excess liquid is not left in the mouth and low foaming toothpaste.See their link below.