ORAL-DENTAL HEALTH PROTOCOLS IN PEDIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE UNITS

Pediatric intensive care units are places where thousands of children take treatment for various reasons every year. Critically ill children need to be well-cared for getting beter and they need to protected from hospital infections. Many studies have showed that Ventialor Associated Pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most important causes of hospital infections and its incidence can be reduced by good oral care. Although oral care contains daily oral assessments and determination of the individual needs, brushing teeth, mouth moisturizing and mouthrinse use, many nurses prefer foam sticks to toothbrushes. In addition, the optimal frequency of oral health care applications is also a question. There are investigations about adult patients generally, but few research about children. For this reason, new researches about protocols for oral health care of hospitalized children are needed.