Your Toothbrush and Respiratory Infections

More Frequent Brushing May Boost Your Ability to Avoid Chest Colds and Other Nasty Respiratory Infections

It turns out that tooth brushing, like hand washing, is an easy and effective health habit that may help you (or your child) fend off chest colds and other nasty respiratory infections. While we tend to think of the winter months as "cold season," the fact is that colds, flu and other bugs that make a mess of your lungs can hit at any time. In fact, some people swear that the most miserable colds are those they suffer in the spring. Suffering a hacking cough and stuffed up head is bad enough, but getting hit just as winter is melting, the daffodils are pushing up, and the crocus are popping---yes, that's a particular bummer.

Every day, it seems, more information comes to light about the importance of oral health to overall health. Gingivitis, inflammation of the gums, for example, has been linked to an increased risk of cardiac arrest and other heart disease, as well as diabetes. Regular and effective tooth brushing is an important part of preventing and treating inflammation of the gums. Now, however, recent research has shown that frequent tooth brushing also may be key to preventing chest colds and even pneumonia.

Researchers at the Tel Aviv University Department of Nursing made this discovery in a hospital setting. For patients with lengthy hospital stays and, in particular, patients who are on ventilators, one of the major risks is contracting pneumonia, a potentially fatal inflammatory illness affecting the lungs.

Nurses caring for such patients at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, and other major medical facilities in Israel, started a program of brushing patients' teeth at least three times a day, rather than the less frequent daily program that had been followed. When patients had their teeth cleaned more frequently, their risk of developing pneumonia decreased dramatically. Even patients who were unconscious had their pneumonia risk reduced by up to 50%.

That's really good news for the person who, by virtue of needing mechanical assistance to breathe, is already less able to deal with the knock-out punch of a respiratory infection.