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ORAL CARE Professor Rod MacLeod
Senior Staff Specialist, Hammond Care and
Conjoint Professor of the University of Sydney
Anne Morgan Practice Advisor. HNZ
Genesis Lecture, July 2012
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Introduction
Mouth care is a frequently neglected but crucial aspect of
palliative care in all settings, It maintains self esteem,
comfort, and the person’s ability to communicate, socialise
and enjoy food and drinks
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Why worry about oral care?
• Patients at the end of life are vulnerable to oral problems
(Gillam & Gillam 2006)
• The impact of oral discomfort impacts on many aspects of
the lives of patients/residents
• People at EOL are frequently exposed to compromising
factors
• Research has ranked xerostomia in patients with
advanced disease as the third most distressing symptom
(Sweeney and Bagg, 2000, Davies et al, 2001, Rydholm and Strang 2002, Wiseman 2000 …)
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Risk factors for oral problems
• Debility
• Dry mouth
• Chemotherapy
• Poor oral intake
• Local irradiation
• Dehydration
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Even patients don’t rank it
Because oral care is often still seen by
health professionals as of minor
importance, despite the high incidence of
oral discomfort such as dryness (89%) and
infection, patients/residents do not perceive
these symptoms as clinically important and
often fail to report the problem.
Reported in a study from a community and hospice setting in Canada,
Oneschuk et al, 2000
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Physical effects
• Patient comfort
• Loss of enjoyment of food
• Loss of appetite and inability to maintain
nutrition
• Swallowing difficulties
• Poor protection from infection
• Communication difficulties
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Psychological Effects
• Frustration
• Swallowing difficulties
• Loss of taste means lack of enjoyment
• Prolonged periods of eating ‘mush’
• Unbearable at times
• Frustration gives way to annoyance and
anger
• Being misunderstood because of slurred
speech
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Social effects
• Difficulties in communication
leading to embarrassment
• Social impact of not being able
to enjoy and share meals with
family and friends
• Limits social outings and participation at
special occasions
• Avoid close physical contact
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Individualised care regimen
Timely oral care assessment and an
individualised regime are required to
establish the frequency and type of care
required in order to limit the occurrence of
oral complications (McQuire, 2003)
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Key questions for mouth care
• Is infection present?
• Is the mouth dry?
• Is the mouth dirty?
• Is the mouth painful?
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Oral health assessment
Body text
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Oral assessment guide
• Voice
• Swallow
• Lips texture (?dry, cracked. Bleeding)
• Tongue (?unusual coating, blisters, dry)
• Saliva
• Mucous membranes (?coating, ulcers)
• Gingiva (?oedema, redness, bleeding)
• Teeth/dentures (?debris, plaque)
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Major and minor salivary glands
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Functions of saliva
• cleansing and lubrication
• buffering
• remineralisation
• antimicrobial
• taste
• digestion
• mucosal integrity
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Aetiology of dry mouth
Functional
• dehydration
• psychological
• medication
• diabetes mellitus
• liver cirrhosis
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Aetiology of dry mouth
Structural
• developmental
• radiation therapy
• Sjögren syndrome
• infections
• graft-versus-host disease
• sarcoidosis 17
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Replicating saliva
• Glycerine and thymol
Hygroscopic → dryness
• Carboxymethylcellulose
+ buffers, calcium and fluoride
• Saliva orthana
Animal mucin (~ religious
groups/vegetarians)
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Stimulating saliva
• Candies or mints
Sorbitol, xylitol-containing gum
• Chewing gum
• Pharmacological agents
• Lifestyle adaptation
• Diet drinks (low pH)
• Reduce caffeine and alcohol
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Dry mouth alternatives
• Semifrozen tonic water and gin
• Semifrozen fruit juice or pieces
• Frequent sips of cold water or water
sprays
• Petroleum jelly on the lips
• Frozen nystatin popsicles
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Drugs
Pilocarpine • Used for over 100 years
• No tablet available in NZ
• Use drops (significant dose variation)
• Solution is initially made up as
0.5mg/1ml, prescribing 500ml and
labelled to take 5ml four times daily po
(with increasing doses)
• Too high a dose leads to sweating,
nausea and loose bowels, less
commonly urgency and vivid dreaming
• Take care with asthma
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Infected mouth
Candidiasis
• 29-50% healthy adults are carriers
• Up to 89% of people with advanced
cancer
• Nystatin – may not be the best option
• Fluconazole (perhaps ketoconazole)
• Remember to clean dentures properly
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Care plan summary
• Report findings of assessment
• Offer oral care at least four times a day:
after each meal and at bedtime
• Use soft toothbrushes and mild
toothpaste or jumbo plain swabs
• Drug therapy as necessary
• Refer for dental treatment
• Repeat oral assessment daily
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Solution choices for oral care
• Lemon and Glycerin swabs – NO !!!
• Increase oral dryness due to dehydrating effects of glycerin and over-stimulation of saliva
• Exhaustion of salivary glands from effects of lemon
• No evidence of cleansing properties
• Citric acid damages tooth enamel
• Accelerates decalcification
• Increases likelihood of painful tooth sensitivity
Oral Care for People with Advanced Cancer; an evidence based protocol
Stuart Milligan, Maria McGill, Petrina Sweeney, Carol Malarkey
International Journal of Palliative Nursing 2001, Vol 7, No 9
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Chlorhexidine
• Do not use more than once every 12 hours
• Antibacterial, antifungal, antiplaque
• Can be unpalatable – may lead to taste alteration
• Astringency can lead to increased oral pain
• Incompatible with nystatin- two compete for the same binding sites
• Relatively expensive
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Sodium Bicarbonate
• Mucolytic properties
• Neutralises oral environment especially when there is infection
• Concentrations in excess of 1% can irritate mucosa
• Unpleasant taste can mean non-compliance
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Mouthwashes
• Pleasant tasting
• Deodorant effect
• Expensive
• Efficacy unknown
• Not always well tolerated if patient nauseated or anorexic
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Water or Normal Saline
• Widely used, well accepted, effective mouthwash
• Use warm or cool – not icy cold
Normal Saline
• Convenient and inexpensive
• Mild antiseptic
• Non-irritant (1 tsp to 500mls)
• Not so well tolerated by patients with altered taste or nausea
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The dying person
• Moisten mouth regularly
• Show family how to do this
• Gently with plain jumbo swabs
• Use fluids familiar to the person
• Lip balms useful
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Changing practice
• Create and implement a protocol
• Implement staff education and regular updates
• Audit oral care practices
• Provide information leaflets for patient’s and families
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In conclusion
Oral problems, especially dryness are a significant problem for people at the end of life and impact on people’s feelings and affect their quality of life. Oral care must therefore be raised to a clinical priority in hospice, hospital and community settings to improve standards of holistic palliative care.
Oral discomfort in palliative care: results of an exploratory study of the experiences of terminally ill patients
Rohr Y., Adams J., Young L. International Journal of Palliative Care3 2011
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