Dental and Oral Care to Reduce The Incidence of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia among Patients with Ventilator in Intensive Care Unit: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are at risk for dying not only from their critical illness but also from secondary processes such as nosocomial infection. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common nosocomial infection in the ICU and the most common in mechanically ventilated patients. Oral and dental care may reduce microorganisms in the oral cavity. This study was aimed to review the effect of dental and oral care to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia among patients with ventilator in the intensive care unit. Subjects and Method: A systematic review was conducted by searching published articles from 2014 to 2019, from PubMed. The inclusion criteria were articles in English, full text, randomized controlled trial, and open access. The dependent variable was the incidence of VAP. The independent variable was dental and oral care. After the review process, 8 articles were included in this review. Results: Eight articles reported that dental and oral care is one of the key factors for VAP prevention. It is an effective procedure to decrease nosocomial infections, coloni-zation of the bacteria, and a tendency to reduce the incidence of VAP. Conclusion: Dental and oral care reduces the incidence VAP.