Oral health status of patients in intensive care unit: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Patients in intensive care unit (ICU) may present oral alterations as a result of patients’ systemic conditions, the use of medications, intubation or poor oral hygiene. Oral alterations should be detected and treated because they may aggravate patients’ condition. The objective of this study was to evaluate the types and frequencies of clinically detected oral alterations in inpatients of an ICU. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which an oral evaluation of patients hospitalized in an ICU of a public hospital was performed. Demographic, social and clinical characteristics were collected from medical records. Oral exams were performed by two trained dentists, with reliability checked by intra-class correlation coefficient, while patients were lying in the hospital bed, using a frontal headlamp, tongue depressor and sterile gauze. All data were recorded in study protocol forms and transferred to a data base for analysis. Results: Thirty-seven patients, with similar distribution between genders, with median age of 62 yearswere evaluated. The most frequent causes for hospitalization were postoperative care (51.35%) and respiratory problems (29.72%). About 90% of the inpatients presented some type of oral alterations during the hospitalization period. The most common clinical alterations were dry lips (86.5%); coated tongue (61.1%); paleness of the oral mucosa (54.1%); oral foci of infection (37.8%) and candidiasis (13.5%). Conclusion: The majority of inpatients of the ICU presented some type of oral alteration, and the most frequent were dry lips and coated tongue. Data observed in this study reinforce the need of the dental team support during the period of hospitalization.