The impact of hospitalization on oral health: a systematic review

Poor oral health of hospitalized patients is associated with an increased risk of hospital-acquired infections and reduced life quality.

To systematically review the evidence on oral health changes during hospitalization.

Cochrane library, Medline, OldMedline, Embase and CINAHL without language restrictions.

Observational longitudinal studies.

Two independent reviewers screened studies for inclusion, assessed the risk of bias and extracted data. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa assessment scale. A narrative synthesis was conducted.

Five before and after studies were included. The data suggest a deterioration in oral health following hospitalization with an increase in dental plaque accumulation and gingival inflammation and a deterioration in mucosal health.

While before and after studies are at a general risk of bias, other specific study characteristics were judged to have a low risk of bias. However, methodological issues such as unvalidated outcome measures and the lack of assessor training limit the strength of the evidence.

Hospitalization is associated with a deterioration in oral health, particularly in intubated patients.