Things To Know About Oral Care And Aspiration Pneumonia

By Sarah Murphy


Aspiration pneumonia is a recurrent beast. When elderly people get such illness, it weakens their body which is a huge impact on their overall medical condition and would increase the risk for additional aspiration. As you can see, pneumonia increases the chances of getting hospitalized, increase healthcare expenses, decrease the quality of life, and increases the possibility of death.

Recent research shows that boosting oral hygiene will minimize the risks of developing this illness among elderly individuals and minimize the chances of death. With proper oral care, it means giving elders a minimal chance of having respiratory distress. This information alone can determine the link between oral care and aspiration pneumonia.

With proper oral hygiene, elders can improve their swallowing functions by reducing latency time of swallowing and increase salivary secretions. These outcomes could enhance the ease and safety of eating. Additionally, oral care is also significant for elders with natural or without teeth. One of the misconceptions among caregivers and patients is that if they do not have teeth or dentures, they do not need to perform daily hygiene.

But this is not always the case, dentures must be cleaned based on the advices of their dentist. Additionally, tongue and mouth require proper maintenance with a scraper tool. This is particularly important in elders. Elderly individuals who live in an established homes have poorer dental health than people who are living at home.

Keep in mind that brushing on a daily basis is not enough. Of course, you should brush your teeth properly. But brushing the teeth of patients is a different story. Caregivers must be trained in helping patients with their oral tasks. Usually, enhancing dental care may decrease the chances of getting pneumonia and even death while boosting their life and reduce healthcare costs.

Typically, there are some foods that would increase the possibilities of getting aspiration. This means that food or liquid may go into your lungs instead of the stomach. Juicy fruits like citrus, oranges, and watermelon should be avoided. When the patients have swallow problems, it may lead to pneumonia. Hoarse voice, chest infections, and frequent throat clearing are some of the symptoms of this problem.

It is essential to take a lot of precautions to get rid of aspirating based on what you eat or drink. Typically, these precautions can help individuals with a diminished swallowing reflex. Thus, if you ignore taking essential steps, this will only cause major problems to the lungs and could result in different complications.

For elderly persons who suffer from such condition, you should take precautionarty measures to avoid taking foods into their lungs which may lead to other complications. As much as possible, talk to the physician and get a written instruction about the best assistance level required, correct way for eating and how to recognize the aspiration signs.

If you adhere the precautions, there are still chances that anyone will experience such problem. Hence, it is always crucial to know and understand what it feels to suffer from such condition and make things more manageable. Some people may develop this condition, therefore, they need extra care while adhering the steps.




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