Impact of everyday oral activities on the risk of bacteraemia is unclear

Abstract

Data sources: The Cochrane Library, Medline and Embase databases were searched as well as the references of identified articles and reviews.

Study selection: Studies were selected independently by two authors with disagreements being resolved by discussion. Only English language papers were included.

Data extraction and synthesis: Data abstraction was conducted independently and meta-analysis conducted where appropriate.

Results: Twelve studies were included; seven on toothbrushing, one on dental flossing and four on chewing were included. Plaque and gingival indices were found to have a significant effect on the prevalence of bacteraemia following toothbrushing, with pooled odds ratios of 2.61 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.45-4.69] and 2.77 (95% CI = 1.50-5.11) respectively. None of five studies on bacteraemia following dental flossing and chewing revealed a statistically significant association between oral hygiene, gingival or periodontal status and the development of bacteraemia.

Conclusions: Meta-analysis showed that plaque accumulation and gingival inflammation scores significantly increased the prevalence of bacteraemia following toothbrushing. However, systematic review showed no relationship between oral hygiene, gingival and periodontal status and the development of B-chewing, and there is no evidence that gingival and periodontal health status affects B-flossing.