Abstract
Objectives：Removing tongue coat is important to prevent aspiration pneumonia. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of cleaning the tongue surface with a tongue brush and oral care gel on removing the tongue coat.
Methods：From elderly patients in a rehabilitation Hospital who need help from the nursing staff for their oral health. 21 patients (mean age 88±9 year-old) were selected. The patients were divided into 2 groups randomly. Patients in the control group were given tongue cleaning with a tongue brush. The others in the gel group were given the antibacterial material “Hinokitiol” containing-oral the care gel “Refrecare H” (EN Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co.) on the tongue surface for 30 seconds followed by tongue cleaning with a tongue brush. The intervention period was 2 weeks and the number of total anaerobic bacteria, the number of Candida species, moisture degree and Shimizuʼs tongue coating index (TCI) on tongue surface were measured before and after the intervention. The Dunnett test was applied to compare TCI, moisture degree, the number of total anaerobic bacteria and the number of Candida species. The significant level was set at 0.05. This protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tokyo Dental College.
Results：Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in all 4 factors between 2 groups. For the control group, there was no significant difference in all 4 factors between before and after the intervention. For the gel group, there was no significant difference in the number of total anaerobic bacteria, but, there were significant differences in the number of Candida species, moisture degree and TCI.
Conclusion：Cleaning the tongue surface with the Hinokitiol contained-oral care gel “Refrecare H” for 2 weeks decreases tongue coat.
