Evaluation of disinfectant solutions as denture cleansers for geriatric patients

ABSTRACT

Many elderly patients in long-term care hospitals adequately brush their dentures because of disease, dementia and poor dexterity. Such inadequate cleaning may allow for the multiplication of Candida and bacteria, which could serve as reservoirs for disseminating infections. To assess the efficacy of 3 disinfections solutions [as a dentures cleansers] in reducing the number of microorganisms on dentures in a geriatric hospitalized patient. Three brands of disinfection solution [Hexclean, Protectal and Hydrogen Peroxide [H2O2 6%] were compared; water was used as the control. Mici-obiological samples were obtained before and after 3 one-week periods of disinfection use; these samples were taken by a microbiologist blinded to the assigned treatment. In the statistical analysts, the ranks of the differences between the before-treatment and after-treatment scores of each regimen were compared by means of the general linear model In addition, the efficacy of each disinfection in reducing accumulation of plaque, stain and food was assessed. The rank of the differences in the number of colony-forming units [CFUs] of Candida. before and after one week of use of Hexclean [p=0.04] and Protectal [p=0.01]. was significantly greater than that of the H2O2 6% group,. The significant difference in the rank of the reduction in Candida CFUs [p=0.005] was related to the variance between study periods [p=0.01] and the variance between subjects [p=0.008]. The use of disinfected solutions available in hospitals to other uses significantly reduced the number of microorganisms in dentures