Application of electric toothbrush in the prevention of oral infectionin ICU patients with tracheal intubation

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of electric toothbrush on the prevention and control of oral infection in ICU patients with tracheal intubation,so as to reduce the incidence of oral infections.METHODS A total of398 cases of patients with tracheal intubation from Jun.2012 to Dec.2014 in ICU of our hospital were selected,and divided into observation group and control group,according to the random number table method,with 199 cases in each group.Patients in control group were received conventional oral intervention operation,and patients in observation group were received electric toothbrush brushing intervention operation.The two groups were received continuous nursing for 7days,and the oral bacteria positive rate,the number of oral odor and oral residue,the incidence of oral infections and nursing and dental plaque index were detected.RESULTS In 7-day intervention of observation group,the oral bacteria positive rate was 2.01%,oral odor was 139 times,accounting for 4.99%,and oral residue was 0time.In control group,the positive rate of oral bacteria was 35%,oral odor was 1356 times,accounting for 48.67%,and oral residues were 418 times,accounting for 15%.The indexes of observation group were significantly lower than those of control group（P＜0.01）.In observation group,the oral mucosal injury rate was 1.01%,significantly lower than 13.06% of control group（P＜0.05）.There was no oral infection in observation group,and the infection rate of control group was 3.52%,the difference was significant（P＜ 0.05）.The dental plaque index had no significant difference between the two groups before intervention.After nursing intervention,the average dental plaque index of patients of observation group was significantly lower than that of control group（P＜0.01）.CONCLUSION Electric toothbrush can significantly reduce the positive rate of oral bacteria,mouth odor and oral residues,effectively remove dental plaque and reduce oral mucosa injury rate and oral infection rate.