Exploration of pharmacist comfort with harm reduction behaviors: Cross-sectional latent class analysis.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists are positioned to play important roles in implementing evidence-based prevention and harm reduction approaches for opioid misuse and related health care outcomes such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C. More research is needed to understand how best to facilitate harm reduction practices among pharmacists. OBJECTIVES: This hypothesis-generating study investigated (1) whether subgroups (latent classes) were observable among pharmacists based on self-reported comfort with specific harm reduction behaviors, (2) whether having reported expertise in key content areas was associated with any latent classes that might be identified, and (3) whether comfort and training were associated with actually having dispensed syringes for likely nonprescription drug use. METHODS: This was a statewide census of community managing pharmacists in Arizona conducted from December 2018 to May 2019. Participants reported their degree of comfort with 10 harm reduction behaviors, their expertise (e.g., recent continuing pharmacy education or specialization) in selected content areas, and their syringe dispensing behavior. Additional sociodemographic information was also collected. Subgroups related to harm reduction were computed using latent class analysis, and associations between study variables were assessed using the Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS: Data suggested the existence of 4 latent, comfort-based harm reduction classes: high comfort, moderate comfort, and clinical comfort, and opioid prevention only. Reported expertise in pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV was likely associated with harm reduction class. However, class membership was not associated with reporting having dispensed nonprescription syringes, although the single comfort item for syringe dispensing, by itself, was associated therewith. CONCLUSION: Comfort with harm reduction likely clusters, so pharmacists may be broadly comfortable with topics or methods of harm reduction; however, comfort with a specific harm reduction pharmacy practice may be a better predictor of engaging in that behavior than harm reduction comfort class. In contrast, strategies to improve comfort, such as intervention development, might successfully be informed by pharmacists' latent class.

Relationship between an Oral Health Risk Assessment Using a Salivary Multi-Test System and Woman's Subjective Oral Health Symptoms and Sleep Disorder.

Saliva is used as a diagnosis and monitoring tool for various diseases because it can maintain the balance of the oral ecosystem and reflect the physiological and pathological state of the body. Because women suffer more fatigue than men because of physiological, psychological, and social factors, individual management strategies are needed to evaluate mental health and oral diseases. Therefore, this study examined the oral health risk level from seven saliva factors using a saliva multi-test system for adult women to confirm the possibility of screening for sleep disorders. The saliva of 83 adult female participants was surveyed along with a self-reported questionnaire consisting of seven subjective oral health symptoms and three questions about sleep disorders. Seven saliva factors were evaluated using the saliva multi-test system (SiLL-Ha ST-4910) to assess the oral health risk levels. In the tooth health risk groups, the acidity was high, while the buffering capacity was low (p < 0.001). The periodontal health risk groups showed significant differences in acidity, occult blood, leukocytes, proteins, and ammonia (p < 0.05). The oral malodor risk group had higher levels of cariogenic bacteria, occult blood, leukocytes, and ammonia (p < 0.05). In groups with 'irregular sleep times' and 'insomnia', the acidity was high, and the buffering capacity was low (p < 0.001). This study confirmed the relevance of saliva factors and sleep disorder. Therefore, an evaluation using saliva was confirmed for oral health risk assessments and as an early screening tool for sleep disorders.

Social Media Outrage in Response to a School-Based Substance Use Survey: Qualitative Analysis.

BACKGROUND: School-based alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use (ATOD) surveys are a common epidemiological means of understanding youth risk behaviors. They can be used to monitor national trends and provide data, in aggregate, to schools, communities, and states for the purposes of funding allocation, prevention programming, and other supportive infrastructure. However, such surveys sometimes are targeted by public criticism, and even legal action, often in response to a lack of perceived appropriateness. The ubiquity of social media has added the risk of potential online firestorms, or digital outrage events, to the hazards to be considered when administering such a survey. Little research has investigated the influence of online firestorms on public health survey administration, and no research has analyzed the content of such an occurrence. Analyzing this content will facilitate insights as to how practitioners can minimize the risk of generating outrage when conducting such surveys. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify common themes within social media comments comprising an online firestorm that erupted in response to a school-based ATOD survey in order to inform risk-reduction strategies. METHODS: Data were collected by archiving all public comments made in response to a news study about a school-based ATOD survey that was featured on a common social networking platform. Using the general inductive approach and elements of thematic analysis, two researchers followed a multi-step protocol to clean, categorize, and consolidate data, generating codes for all 207 responses. RESULTS: In total, 133 comments were coded as oppositional to the survey and 74 were coded as supportive. Among the former, comments tended to reflect government-related concerns, conspiratorial or irrational thinking, issues of parental autonomy and privacy, fear of child protective services or police, issues with survey mechanisms, and reasoned disagreement. Among the latter, responses showed that posters perceived the ability to prevent abuse and neglect and support holistic health, surmised that opponents were hiding something, expressed reasoned support, or made factual statements about the survey. Consistent with research on moral outrage and digital firestorms, few comments (<10%) contained factual information about the survey; nearly half of the comments, both supportive and oppositional, were coded in categories that presupposed misinformation. CONCLUSIONS: The components of even a small online firestorm targeting a school-based ATOD survey are nuanced and complex. It is likely impossible to be fully insulated against the risk of outrage in response to this type of public health work; however, careful articulation of procedures, anticipating specific concerns, and two-way community-based interaction may reduce risk.

Spherical Process Models for Global Spatial Statistics.

Statistical models used in geophysical, environmental, and climate science applications must reflect the curvature of the spatial domain in global data. Over the past few decades, statisticians have developed covariance models that capture the spatial and temporal behavior of these global data sets. Though the geodesic distance is the most natural metric for measuring distance on the surface of a sphere, mathematical limitations have compelled statisticians to use the chordal distance to compute the covariance matrix in many applications instead, which may cause physically unrealistic distortions. Therefore, covariance functions directly defined on a sphere using the geodesic distance are needed. We discuss the issues that arise when dealing with spherical data sets on a global scale and provide references to recent literature. We review the current approaches to building process models on spheres, including the differential operator, the stochastic partial differential equation, the kernel convolution, and the deformation approaches. We illustrate realizations obtained from Gaussian processes with different covariance structures and the use of isotropic and nonstationary covariance models through deformations and geographical indicators for global surface temperature data. To assess the suitability of each method, we compare their log-likelihood values and prediction scores, and we end with a discussion of related research problems.

Explaining the Red Fluorescence Evident on the Surface of Failed Dental Implants: Case Reports.

INTRODUCTION: It is important to identify the reasons for implant failure when planning future dental treatment. No studies have distinguished the factors that affect implant failure by evaluating the appearance of failed fixtures. PURPOSE: This study investigated these factors by evaluating the surface of implant fixtures using quantitative light-induced fluorescence-digital (QLF-D), which involves detecting the red fluorescence emitted by porphyrin metabolized by oral bacteria in a mature biofilm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The areas of red fluorescence in QLF-D images obtained from all aspects of the fixture surface were then analyzed using quantitative analysis software. RESULTS: Red fluorescence was evident on the surface of implants that failed after at least 2 years of occlusal loading and exhibited severe bone loss. Implants with no fluorescence exhibited a clean surface in blue-light images, and the bone loss could not be observed radiographically. CONCLUSIONS: The cases presented that failed dental implant surfaces caused by periimplantitis can be detected by the red fluorescence evident as QLF-D.

Multifactorial effects of ambient temperature, precipitation, farm management, and environmental factors determine the level of generic Escherichia coli contamination on preharvested spinach.

A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted to identify farm management, environment, weather, and landscape factors that predict the count of generic Escherichia coli on spinach at the preharvest level. E. coli was enumerated for 955 spinach samples collected on 12 farms in Texas and Colorado between 2010 and 2012. Farm management and environmental characteristics were surveyed using a questionnaire. Weather and landscape data were obtained from National Resources Information databases. A two-part mixed-effect negative binomial hurdle model, consisting of a logistic and zero-truncated negative binomial part with farm and date as random effects, was used to identify factors affecting E. coli counts on spinach. Results indicated that the odds of a contamination event (non-zero versus zero counts) vary by state (odds ratio [OR] = 108.1). Odds of contamination decreased with implementation of hygiene practices (OR = 0.06) and increased with an increasing average precipitation amount (mm) in the past 29 days (OR = 3.5) and the application of manure (OR = 52.2). On contaminated spinach, E. coli counts increased with the average precipitation amount over the past 29 days. The relationship between E. coli count and the average maximum daily temperature over the 9 days prior to sampling followed a quadratic function with the highest bacterial count at around 24°C. These findings indicate that the odds of a contamination event in spinach are determined by farm management, environment, and weather factors. However, once the contamination event has occurred, the count of E. coli on spinach is determined by weather only.

Statewide Administration of the CRAFFT Screening Tool: Highlighting the Spectrum of Substance Use.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent alcohol and drug use in the United States are associated with negative consequences spanning multiple domains. Much of the public health surveillance of these behaviors relies on self-report survey data. These data frequently takes the form of frequency or prevalence data for specific substances, which may not provide a complete picture of use. OBJECTIVES: This study analyzes a state-level survey that includes the CRAFFT screening tool. The study's goal is to elucidate the spectrum of substance use severity across a large segment of substance-using adolescents attending schools in the state of Indiana and to assess the contribution of a variety of predictor variables to the variance between users falling into each category of use severity. METHODS: Data were collected in 2011 from 168,801 adolescents, of whom 25,204 met the inclusion criteria for this study. The authors utilize multinomial logit analyses to highlight variables, including sociodemographic data, poly-drug use, and risk/protective behavior scales, associated with each category of use. RESULTS: Seriousness of use is not uniform across substance-using adolescents; 49% were categorized as nonproblem users, 33% as problem users, and 18% as dependent users. Risk and protective factors predict adolescents' severity of substance use, but do not do so uniformly. Poly-drug use is a significant predictor of problem use and dependent use as well. CONCLUSIONS: The CRAFFT may provide a more nuanced perspective of adolescent substance use than frequency/prevalence data alone; the authors describe the implications derived from these data and analyses to the adolescent prevention and treatment systems.

Farm management, environment, and weather factors jointly affect the probability of spinach contamination by generic Escherichia coli at the preharvest stage.

The National Resources Information (NRI) databases provide underutilized information on the local farm conditions that may predict microbial contamination of leafy greens at preharvest. Our objective was to identify NRI weather and landscape factors affecting spinach contamination with generic Escherichia coli individually and jointly with farm management and environmental factors. For each of the 955 georeferenced spinach samples (including 63 positive samples) collected between 2010 and 2012 on 12 farms in Colorado and Texas, we extracted variables describing the local weather (ambient temperature, precipitation, and wind speed) and landscape (soil characteristics and proximity to roads and water bodies) from NRI databases. Variables describing farm management and environment were obtained from a survey of the enrolled farms. The variables were evaluated using a mixed-effect logistic regression model with random effects for farm and date. The model identified precipitation as a single NRI predictor of spinach contamination with generic E. coli, indicating that the contamination probability increases with an increasing mean amount of rain (mm) in the past 29 days (odds ratio [OR] = 3.5). The model also identified the farm's hygiene practices as a protective factor (OR = 0.06) and manure application (OR = 52.2) and state (OR = 108.1) as risk factors. In cross-validation, the model showed a solid predictive performance, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 81%. Overall, the findings highlighted the utility of NRI precipitation data in predicting contamination and demonstrated that farm management, environment, and weather factors should be considered jointly in development of good agricultural practices and measures to reduce produce contamination.

Adverse Childhood Experience-Related Conditions and Substance Use in Adolescents: A Secondary Analysis of Cross-Sectional Survey Data.

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cluster within children. In addition to standardized ACE measures, there exist "ACE-related" measures that are either directly or indirectly related to the standardized ACE constructs. This study aimed to identify ACE-related latent classes of adolescents and describe past-month substance use in each class by sex and race/ethnicity. METHODS: Data from the 2018 Indiana Youth Survey (N = 70,703), which is a repeated self-administered, cross-sectional survey, were used. Latent class analysis was conducted using ACE-related family (parent incarceration, insulting/yelling within family, inability to discuss personal problems) and school (hate being in school, feeling unsafe, inability to talk to teachers one-on-one) items. Dependent variable combined past 30-day use-frequency of 17 substances. Two-way analysis of variances examined ACE by sex and race/ethnicity interaction. RESULTS: Four ACE-related classes emerged: "Family-Only" (11.2%), "School-Only" (16.5%), "Family-School" (8.0%), and "No-ACE" (64.3%). Substance use was highest in "Family-School" (mean = 0.67); lowest in "No-ACE" (mean = 0.21). Significant race/ethnicity (F = 27.06; p < .0001), ACE * sex interaction (F = 12.13; p < .0001) and ACE * race/ethnicity interaction (F = 4.57; p < .0001) effects emerged. Within each ACE-related class, substance use was lowest for Asians and highest for Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS: Adverse childhood experience-related items cluster within children across school and family environments and clustering differs by race/ethnicity, but not by sex. Incorporating ACE-related items into school surveys enhances the ability to implement interventions that target relationships between ACEs and substance use.

Generic Escherichia coli contamination of spinach at the preharvest stage: effects of farm management and environmental factors.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of farm management and environmental factors on preharvest spinach contamination with generic Escherichia coli as an indicator of fecal contamination. A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted by visiting spinach farms up to four times per growing season over a period of 2 years (2010 to 2011). Spinach samples (n = 955) were collected from 12 spinach farms in Colorado and Texas as representative states of the Western and Southwestern United States, respectively. During each farm visit, farmers were surveyed about farm-related management and environmental factors using a questionnaire. Associations between the prevalence of generic E. coli in spinach and farm-related factors were assessed by using a multivariable logistic regression model including random effects for farm and farm visit. Overall, 6.6% of spinach samples were positive for generic E. coli. Significant risk factors for spinach contamination with generic E. coli were the proximity (within 10 miles) of a poultry farm, the use of pond water for irrigation, a >66-day period since the planting of spinach, farming on fields previously used for grazing, the production of hay before spinach planting, and the farm location in the Southwestern United States. Contamination with generic E. coli was significantly reduced with an irrigation lapse time of >5 days as well as by several factors related to field workers, including the use of portable toilets, training to use portable toilets, and the use of hand-washing stations. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an association between field workers' personal hygiene and produce contamination with generic E. coli at the preharvest level. Collectively, our findings support that practice of good personal hygiene and other good farm management practices may reduce produce contamination with generic E. coli at the preharvest level.

Knowledge Evaluation of Oral Diseases and Perception of Cooperation with Dental Experts for Oral Care of Nurses in Intensive Care Units in Korea: A Preliminary Study.

The aim of this study was to identify the status of education and knowledge concerning oral diseases for oral care as they relate to intensive care unit (ICU) nurses, as well as to investigate the perception of oral care education and practice, as led by dental experts. This study conducted a self-report survey consisting of 33 questions on education and knowledge about oral diseases, as well as perception of dental expert-led education and practice, targeting 240 nurses in the ICU. Finally, 227 questionnaires were analyzed, and 75.3% of the participants were staff nurses, and 41.4% were in the medical ICU. In the area of education and knowledge of major oral diseases, more than 50% of the respondents treating gingivitis, periodontitis, and dental caries did not complete dental education, and it was found that more than half of the respondents were unable to distinguish diseases of the mouth. It was recognized that more than half of nurses required dental expert-led education and practice. In this study, the education and knowledge of oral diseases of ICU nurses were found to be insufficient, and the need for the cooperation of dental experts was high. Therefore, collaboration to improve oral care practical guidelines for realistically applicable ICU patients will be needed.

Oral Care Practice, Perception, and Attitude of Nurses in Intensive Care Units in Korea: A Questionnaire Survey.

Background: This cross-sectional study investigated the factors influencing oral care in patients in intensive care units (ICUs) by identifying the current oral care practice status, perceptions, and attitudes of ICU nurses in Korea. Methods: This study surveyed 240 nurses with work experience in the ICU using a self-report questionnaire consisting of 22 items on the status, perception, and attitude towards oral care in the ICU. Results: A total of 227 questionnaires were analyzed. The average age of the participants was 29.79 ± 5.92 years, and the medical ICU was the most type of ICU. The factors affecting the attitude towards oral care and its importance in ICU patients were the experience of working as a nurse (r = 0.336, p < 0.01), ICU work experience (r = 0.218, p < 0.01), and oral care practice frequency (r = 0.167 p < 0.05); these were found to be statistically significant. Conclusions: In this study, the interest of the nurses in oral care practice and education was high, but professional education and the regular implementation of oral care practices were insufficient. To address these problems, it will be necessary to improve oral care practices through dental intervention and education about oral care methods focused on ICU patients.

Relationship between Risk Factors Related to Eating Disorders and Subjective Health and Oral Health.

This study examined the factors related to eating disorders (ED) and the relationship between ED and subjective health or subjective oral health in adolescents. The 46,146 adolescents (age 12-18 years) who participated in the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey were selected, including those who had attempted to lose weight within the past 30 days during the survey period. The variables included were eating behavior, BMI, body image subjective health, and subjective oral health. The weight-loss method was divided into two groups (regular exercise, RE, and eating disorder, ED). The data were analyzed using the Rao-Scott χ2 test and logistic regression analysis. The adolescents with an obese body image had a lower risk of ED (OR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.38-1.49) than adolescents with a very thin body image. Adolescents with ED had a higher risk of a poor subjective health assessment (OR = 2.32, 95% CI 1.85-2.91). On the other hand, they had a lower risk of a poor subjective oral health assessment (OR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.71-1.12). ED is closely associated with eating behavior, BMI, body image, oral health behavior, subjective health, and subjective oral health in Korean adolescents.

Factors Affecting Body Image Distortion in Adolescents.

Body image distortion is an important problem in physical and psychological health in adolescents. This study examined the factors affecting body image distortion in Korean adolescents. A Rao−Scott χ2 test and a complex samples logistic regression was conducted using the statistics from the 17th (2021) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. The study sample included 41,124 middle and high school students. There was a difference in the presence or absence of body image distortion according to the subject's gender, school grade, school achievement, and economic status (p < 0.001). Approximately 49.5% of subjects with body image distortion had tried to lose weight, but there were few cases where they attempted to lose weight through physical activities, such as moderate physical activity (22.8%), vigorous physical activity (23.3%), and muscle physical activity (23.9%) (p < 0.001). The group with body image distortion was 1.77 times more likely to sit for more than four hours a day on average (p < 0.001). To prevent various factors influencing the distortion of the adolescent's body image, the development of a systematic intervention program for forming no distortion of adolescents' body image is required.

Evaluation of the Erosive and Cariogenic Potential of Over-the-Counter Pediatric Liquid Analgesics and Antipyretics.

To evaluate the cariogenic and erosive potentials of over-the-counter pediatric oral liquid antipyretics and analgesics, we tested nine over-the-counter pediatric oral liquid medications classified as antipyretic or analgesic medicines available in Korea. For each substance, we measured the pH with a pH meter and the sugar content with a sugar content meter. We determined the titratable acidity (TA) levels based on the volumes of NaOH solution that had to be added to reach a pH of 7.0. We also evaluated the dental erosion potentials with an International Organization for Standardization method based on observing changes in the pH of a CaPO4 solution upon introducing a small volume of the solution to be tested. The oral liquid medications had pH values of 3.40-5.68. In the TA assessments, several oral liquid medications required greater volumes of NaOH solution to reach a pH of 7.0. The dental erosion potentials varied but correlated strongly with the NaOH volumes needed to reach a neutral pH (r = 0.84; p < 0.0001). Many oral liquid antipyretics and analgesics have features that can promote dental erosion. A correct understanding of pediatric antipyretics and analgesics is required in dentistry for children's oral health.

Statistical and Machine Learning Methods Applied to the Prediction of Different Tropical Rainfall Types.

Predicting rain from large-scale environmental variables remains a challenging problem for climate models and it is unclear how well numerical methods can predict the true characteristics of rainfall without smaller (storm) scale information. This study explores the ability of three statistical and machine learning methods to predict 3-hourly rain occurrence and intensity at 0.5° resolution over the tropical Pacific Ocean using rain observations the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite radar and large-scale environmental profiles of temperature and moisture from the MERRA-2 reanalysis. We also separated the rain into different types (deep convective, stratiform, and shallow convective) because of their varying kinematic and thermodynamic structures that might respond to the large-scale environment in different ways. Our expectation was that the popular machine learning methods (i.e., the neural network and random forest) would outperform a standard statistical method (a generalized linear model) because of their more flexible structures, especially in predicting the highly skewed distribution of rain rates for each rain type. However, none of the methods obviously distinguish themselves from one another and each method still has issues with predicting rain too often and not fully capturing the high end of the rain rate distributions, both of which are common problems in climate models. One implication of this study is that machine learning tools must be carefully assessed and are not necessarily applicable to solving all big data problems. Another implication is that traditional climate model approaches are not sufficient to predict extreme rain events and that other avenues need to be pursued.

Influence of General and Local Anesthesia on Postoperative Pain after Impacted Third Molar Surgery.

This study examined the effects of general anesthesia on the postoperative pain level after third molar extractions compared to local anesthesia. This retrospective study included patients who underwent four simultaneous third molar extractions under general or local anesthesia and had records of their postoperative pain levels (visual analog scale, VAS). The pain level was determined in the early (Postoperative day; POD < #3) and late (POD #3-7) periods. The operation time and recently modified difficulty index were analyzed to validate the homogenous condition of the extraction. Of the 227 male inpatients (aged 20.9 ± 1.3 years), 172 and 55 patients underwent third molar extractions under local and general anesthesia, respectively. The age and difficulty index were distributed equally, but the operation time was longer in general anesthesia than in local anesthesia (p < 0.001). The early and late periods featured similar pain outcomes. The operation time correlated with the total periods with a correlation coefficient of 0.271 (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the postoperative pain following whole third molar extraction was related to the operation time rather than the anesthetic methods.

Dentin-Derived-Barrier Membrane in Guided Bone Regeneration: A Case Report.

An autogenous, demineralized, dentin matrix is a well-known osteo-inductive bone substitute that is mostly composed of type I collagen and is widely used in implant dentistry. This single case report describes a successful outcome in guided bone regeneration and dental implantation with a novel human-derived collagen membrane. The authors fabricated a dentin-derived-barrier membrane from a block-type autogenous demineralized dentin matrix to overcome the mechanical instability of the collagen membrane. The dentin-derived-barrier acted as an osteo-inductive collagen membrane with mechanical and clot stabilities, and it replaced the osteo-genetic function of the periosteum. Further research involving large numbers of patients should be conducted to evaluate bone forming capacity in comparison with other collagen membranes.

Developing and Validating a Novel Anonymous Method for Matching Longitudinal School-Based Data.

Prospective longitudinal data collection is an important way for researchers and evaluators to assess change. In school-based settings, for low-risk and/or likely-beneficial interventions or surveys, data quality and ethical standards are both arguably stronger when using a waiver of parental consent-but doing so often requires the use of anonymous data collection methods. The standard solution to this problem has been the use of a self-generated identification code. However, such codes often incorporate personalized elements (e.g., birth month, middle initial) that, even when meeting the technical standard for anonymity, may raise concerns among both youth participants and their parents, potentially altering willingness to participate, response quality, or generating outrage. There may be value, therefore, in developing a self-generated identification code and matching approach that not only is technically anonymous but also appears anonymous to a research-naive individual. This article provides a proof of concept for a novel matching approach for school-based longitudinal data collection that potentially accomplishes this goal.

Hospital Dentistry for Intensive Care Unit Patients: A Comprehensive Review.

This study aimed to review the oral hygiene status, oral care guidelines, and outcomes of oral care in intensive care unit (ICU) patients from a dental perspective for effective oral care. A literature search using the keywords "Hospital dentistry" OR "Oral care" OR "Intensive care unit" OR "Hospital inpatient" OR "Hospitalization" OR "Emergency service" AND "Oral health" OR "Oral hygiene" OR "Dental plaque" was conducted in PubMed, Medline, and Google Scholar to identify publications reporting on the oral care of the patients admitted to ICUs. A total of 17,400 articles were initially identified. Of these, 58 were selected and classified into three categories for critical review. Seven of these studies evaluated the oral status of ICU patients, and most of the studies indicated that ICU patients had poor oral hygiene or required active dental treatment. Thirty-three of these studies evaluated oral care methods for ICU patients, and in general, oral care methods using chlorhexidine as adjuncts along with tooth brushing were recommended. However, there were insufficient studies to evaluate oral hygiene through effective assessment tools from a dental perspective. In 36 studies on the outcomes of oral care in ICU patients, interventions by dental professionals showed effective results in preventing hospital-acquired infection. This review highlights the importance of establishing guidelines for the evaluation of oral status in ICU patients and summarizes data that may be useful for future studies. Further studies on maintaining good oral hygiene among ICU patients are needed.