Effectiveness of a Chlorine Dioxide Spray on Dental Plaque and Respiratory Pathogens in Institutionalized Elders

The primary objective of this 6 month study is to compare the effectiveness of oral health promotion interventions on both clinical oral health, and oral opportunistic respiratory pathogens in institutionalized elders. Secondary objectives are to investigate changes in oral health-related quality of life, incidence of adverse side effects, pneumonia, as well as subject acceptability. Elders residing in nursing homes in Hong Kong will be recruited into the clinical trial. Patients will be randomly allocated into one of the following groups: 0.2% chlorhexidine spray, 0.1% pH-balanced chlorine dioxide spray, or sterile water spray (placebo control), once daily. Dental plaque, gingival bleeding, oral opportunistic respiratory pathogens, oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), and pneumonia incidence will be assessed at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. Subject acceptability of the interventions will be assessed at the end of the clinical trial.