The relationship between oral health and systemic infections among elderly residents of chronic care facilities: a review.

Abstract

Elderly residents living in chronic care facilities such as nursing homes and homes for the aged are more likely to become ill or die from lower respiratory tract infections and other systemic infections than age‐ and sex‐matched persons living in the community. Bacterial infections such as non‐pneumococcal pneumonia are responsible for a large proportion of the hospital admissions from nursing homes and are implicated in many of the deaths that follow hospitalization. The incidence of infection in this group can be attributed to a change in the host's defence mechanisms and to an increased exposure to pathogenic microorganisms. The intent of this review is to develop from evidence in the literature the hypothesis that poor oral hygiene among residents of chronic care facilities increases their exposure to microorganisms found in the oral cavity and, in combination with reduced host defence mechanisms, results in an increased incidence of systemic infections. It is proposed that preventive programs designed to limit oral infections will go far to reduce hospital admissions from chronic care facilities and even lower the mortality rate related specifically to systemic bacterial infections in these patients.