Saturday, March 18, 2017

Important Information About Oral Care And Aspiration Pneumonia

By Christopher Wallace


Generally, aspiration may not necessarily cause pneumonia. It is however suggested that the larynx that functions as a valve may not be at all times be sufficient in deterring food and secretions from reaching the base of your respiratory system. However, aspiration pneumonia results when you ingest large loads of bacteria into your respiratory system which will overwhelm and eventually weaken your immune system. Consequently, you need to ensure that you are well informed on oral care and aspiration pneumonia.

On the other hand, it is assumed that people who are normally dysphagic are usually more vulnerable to this pneumonic cases due to various reasons but not for all dysphagic cases. The first reason is that patients having this condition must have suffered from some other kind of illnesses such as heart attack or might have undergone through some kind of surgical procedures. The severe illnesses normally result in a response in the hypothalamus of the sick person, which then lowers the immunity.

Consequently, this causes the condition to develop especially within three to seven days after a severe illness. It is generally wondered the source of the bacteria that causes pneumonia for dysphagic patients. Although some argue for the stomach being a consequence, adequate dental literature and research indicate that oral hygiene is a much likelier source. When one falls ill, the level of bacteria in the mouth cavity rises.

As a result, stress response that is regulated by your hypothalamus will result in a cessation or decline in secretion of oral mucous and saliva in your mouth cavity. Saliva, as well as mucous usually helps in fighting bacteria, because their immune properties. Consequently, their decrease implies a decline in their functions which allows bacteria to multiply in the mouth. The bacterial load, therefore, increases with every bit of inhalation thus causing the illness.

Oral care basically assists in fighting the bacteria that could develop inside the mouth particularly when you get severely ill. In fact, aspiration-induced pneumonic can be significantly reduced when one frequently visits dental hygienists or if these specialists visit patients in nursing facilities. Again, the ventilator-dependent condition is significantly lessened by observing some aggressive oral care.

Following the implication of your mouth cavity hygiene to this condition, there are numerous issues that need to be considered so as to maintain proper hygiene. First, you will be required to observe mouth hygiene by brushing your teeth a minimum of once a day, but three times a day is usually more effective. For the patients, the nurses use toothbrushes that have suction tubes to help catch secretions when brushing in order to prevent swallowing of bacteria.

On the contrary, green sponges normally used in cleaning the mouth are usually ineffective and result in more damages. Their effects are similar to that of lemon-glycerine swabs. Although lemon does the job, the glycerine swabs generally moisten the mouth but never does some good cleaning.

However, a proper mouth hygiene help in preventing accumulation of bacteria, more so in severely ill patients. Because of this, it is important to have frequent and proper mouth cleaning. As a result, you are able to prevent a bacterial caused aspiration pneumonia.




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