Assessment of nurse-administered oral hygiene

It has been suggested that nurse educators and the establishments in which they are employed should review their basic training criteria for nurse-administered oral hygiene. This literature review illustrates that there has been little, if any, change in oral hygiene practices over the past 29 years and much of the research still in existence is now outdated. The majority of papers reviewed highlight a frightening scarcity of research data available within this field. The author concludes that standards should be set regarding routine mouth-care practices and calls for an accurate rating scale to be devised on which care can be accurately planned, implemented and evaluated.