Oral Health, Dental Care and Aspiration History of Tube Fed Patients

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Oral Health, Dental Care and Aspiration History of Tube Fed Patients in Bradford

  • IRAS ID

    249799

  • Contact name

    Annabelle Carter

  • Contact email

    annabelle.carter@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Leeds

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 1 months, 10 days

  • Research summary

    There is little information regarding oral health of tube-fed children, with general acknowledgement that gum-disease risk is high given increased calculus build-up. Calculus deposits can become dislodged and result in aspiration, due to an unsafe swallow, impacting on general health.
    The study aim is to determine the oral health of tube-fed children, oral health care regimens, dental care history, and identify the dental treatment needs of the local tube fed paediatric population within Bradford.
    Secondary aims are: Identify and assess the quality of medical history taking by dental care professionals within the dental community service for tube fed patients, in comparison to the patients medical records at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI), with a view to improving the quality of recorded medical histories thus facilitating optimal oral health care in this group of patients. Identify co-morbidities of tube fed patients, regarding respiratory health. Identify any challenges for managing and maintaining the oral health of tube fed patients.

    First stage is a retrospective case note analysis. The BRI locally devised tube-fed database would identify the local population to be studied. This database will be cross referenced with Bradford Community Dental Service (CDS) database to identify which patients are already known to the CDS.
    Individuals known to both services would have both their dental and medical notes reviewed retrospectively to determine:
    • Medical health (medical diagnoses, swallow safety, history of aspiration/significant chest infections following tube–placement), and accuracy of the medical history taking by dentists, when compared to the medical notes.
    •Oral health (including: decay, gum health, calculus, oral hygiene measures, treatment experience)
    A sample of 50 of these CDS patients will have a dental clinical review, as part of their routine dental check-up, to record more detailed oral health indices for use in this study. Data will be collected over 6 months.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    20/YH/0002

  • Date of REC Opinion

    22 Apr 2020

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion