Regular oral hygiene could reduce hospital pneumonia risk by up to 60%, according to a new study.
Improving oral health among hospitalised patients could significantly reduce the risk of developing pneumonia during their stay, a new study has found.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Hospital-acquired pneumonia is a lung infection that develops at least 48 hours after a patient is admitted to the hospital. It tends to be more serious than other lung infections, because the patients’ immune systems are often weakened, and hospital pathogens are typically more resistant and virulent than those found in the community.
The form of pneumonia included in the study – non-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) – affects patients who are not on mechanical ventilation.
By improving oral care in hospitals, the infection risk could drop by 60%, according to the results of a new clinical trial presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Global Congress 2026 in Munich.
Hospital-acquired pneumonia in patients who are not on a ventilator is often the result of fluids from the mouth or throat entering the lungs, with hospital-associated respiratory pathogens more frequently detected in patients who are unable to clear oral secretions, according to Brett Mitchell, lead author of the study at Avondale University in Australia.
“These infections are thought to arise largely from a patient’s own microbiota rather than person-to-person transmission. Improving oral hygiene helps reduce these pathogens in the mouth, potentially lowering the risk of subsequent infection,” he said.
The researchers implemented a programme across Australian hospitals that involved over 8,000 patients. All participants were given a toothbrush, toothpaste, educational materials, and access to online resources. Hospital staff also received training and practical support to improve oral care.
The programme led to a substantial improvement in oral hygiene practices among hospital patients.
Among the participants, the proportion of patients receiving oral care increased from 15.9% to 61.5%, with audits showing oral care was undertaken an average of 1.5 times per day.
Those in the programme showed a statistically significant reduction in pneumonia risk, with incidence rates falling from one case every 100 days patients spent in hospital to 0.41.
“One of the most encouraging findings from this study was the scale of improvement we were able to achieve,” commented lead study author Professor Brett Mitchell, Avondale University, Australia.
Previous research has found that prolonged hospitalisation leads to significant deterioration in patients' dental health.
“Our study now provides robust evidence from a hospital setting. The next step is to better understand how structured programmes can be effectively implemented and sustained across hospital wards,” Mitchell added.
