Assessment of oral health status in intensive care unit patients using quantitative light-induced fluorescence: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate oral hygiene using quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) and to compare its results with those of oral examination to determine the applicability of QLF technology for assessing oral health status and oral hygiene in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Materials and methods: We analyzed oral health status, oral examination findings, oral hygiene evaluations using QLF technology, and dry mouth in a sample of 70 hospitalized ICU patients. The relationship between oral hygiene assessments using QLF technology and oral examinations was analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients.

Results: The average participant age was 62.16 years, and the average ICU hospitalization period was 144.94 days. Oral hygiene assessments based on QLF and examination showed a significant positive correlation with the red fluorescence intensity of oral biofilm and number of teeth requiring extraction.

Conclusion: Oral hygiene evaluations of hospitalized ICU patients using QLF technology were confirmed and classified based on the red fluorescence intensity of oral biofilm. Increases in red fluorescence intensity and distribution area were correlated with the number of teeth requiring extraction.