Power Toothbrush Use in Nursing Homes to Eliminate Mouth and Body Inflammation

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Periodontal Disease
• Interventions: Device: Rotating-oscillating Power Toothbrush; Other: Standard Care

• Registration Number: NCT01639183
• Lead Sponsor: University of Manitoba

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether brushing the teeth of nursing home residents with a power toothbrush as compared with standard care typically provided in nursing homes, will increase caregiver compliance with the provision of daily oral care as well as lower oral and systemic inflammation.

Detailed Description

It is well recognized worldwide that residents of nursing homes have poor oral health primarily due to caregiver resistance in the provision of daily oral hygiene care. Fear of being bitten or assaulted by the resident as well as lack of time and discomfort with working in the mouth, are reasons cited for this resistance. It is also now recognized that inflammation in the mouth can raise overall inflammation within the body potentially leading to serious health consequences. Numerous studies involving periodic professional interventions as well as education and training of caregivers in oral care provision have not met with a great deal of success. Caregivers in some studies have indicated preference to power toothbrushes as they are bulkier and longer eliminating the need for insertion of fingers into the mouth and subsequently alleviating fears of being bitten. This study hypothesizes that caregiver utilization of a power toothbrush may increase their compliance with daily oral care provision and could potentially result in elimination of oral and systemic inflammation.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2012-07-10
• Study First Submitted QC: 2012-07-11
• Study First Posted: 2012-07-12
• Study Start: 2012-09
• Status Verified: 2013-07
• Primary Completion: 2013-07
• Study Completion: 2013-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2013-07-23
• Last Update Posted: 2013-07-24

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 58

Inclusion Criteria

• Residents of Nursing Home
• Presence of any natural teeth
• Non-aggressive behavior
• Presence of Periodontal inflammation

Exclusion Criteria

• Smoking
• Comatose
• On a ventilator
• Aggressive behavior
• Presence of communicable disease
• On antibiotics

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Rotating-oscillating Power Toothbrush	Rotating-oscillating Power Toothbrush	Nursing home residents will be randomly assigned to receive power toothbrushing twice daily by their caregivers using a rotating-oscillating power toothbrush.
Standard Care	Standard Care	This arm comprises the control group where nursing home residents will receive standard daily oral care as usual.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Oral Inflammation	6 weeks	Oral inflammation will be measured at baseline and 6 weeks by means of 2 tests: The Modified Gingival Index (Lobene, 1979) and the Papillary Bleeding Score (Loesche, 1989)
Caregiver Compliance	6 weeks	Compliance with power toothbrushing vs standard oral hygiene care will be measured by means of a wall chart filled out by caregivers in the residents rooms.
Systemic Inflammation	6 weeks	Systemic inflammation will be measured using a high sensitivity C-reactive protein test (hsCRP. Blood will be drawn at baseline and at 6 weeks to facilitate this test for both intervention and control groups.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Oral Plaque on Teeth	6 weeks	Changes in plaque accumulation on the teeth for both intervention and control groups will be measured using The Turesky Modification (1970) of the Quigley \& Hein Plaque Index (1962)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Deer Lodge Centre; 🇨🇦 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada