Effect of Oral Care Protocol on Dental and Gingival Plaque Index in Patients With Endotracheal Tube Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit

Oral health is one of the most critical aspects of nursing care in critically ill patients. The study aimed to investigate the effect of oral health protocol on dental and gingival plaque index in patients with endotracheal tubes admitted into the ICU. This double-blind clinical trial was conducted on 70 patients admitted into ICU randomly by tossing a coin, and 35 patients were assigned to each of the experimental and control groups. Oral care was performed in the experimental group using the chlorhexidine (CHX) solution, toothpaste, and oral moisturizer protocol; in the control group, according to the routine method, 0.2% CHX was used twice a day. The data were collected at the time of inclusion and four days later, using the MGI and the O Leary dental plaque index. The mean ages in the experimental and control groups were 38.4±14.4 and 41±14.5 years, respectively. In the experimental and control groups, 77% and 83% of the subjects were male, respectively. After the intervention, the mean gingival index in the experimental and control groups was 0.59±0.31 and 0.90±0.41, and the plaque index was 42.53±15.97 and 53.52±11.9, respectively. The differences before and after the intervention in each group and the difference between the two groups in both gingival and dental plaque indices were statistically significant (P=0.0001). The results showed that the oral health protocol was more effective in improving gingival and dental plaque indices than the routine (CHX) method.