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To carry out mouth care on a patient again, we
need to gain consent, which the patient has

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gained consent, and we're going to aid the
patient as much as we need to.

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We should always encourage the patient to be
as independent as possible because it's quite

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an intrusive procedure to do.

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Also, the patient knows how comfortable it is
for their mouth as well.

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It's also important that toothbrushes are
used.

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This is a large one, if anybody's got any
problems, any patients have any problems with

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mouth ulcers and things like a pediatric
toothbrush is the best use of the smaller and

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softer the better.

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Only a pea sized piece of toothpaste should
be used.

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With any mouth care whether you'd be assisting the
patient or not unless they wish, you know,

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their normal routine is to do something
different.

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If you are carrying out this yourself it is
just a case of going into the mouth and using

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small circular motion and just carry out and
clean all the teeth.

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Explain to the patient as you go along what
you're doing and where you're going next.

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OK, it's important also to clean the tongue as well.

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Before cleaning, it's always great to
inspect the mouth to make sure that there's

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no ulcers and things like that, you can use
a tongue depressor to do that this is a

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single use only.

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So you would ask the patient to open the
mouth if they could, a slightly pressed down

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on the chin if they couldn't.

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And you can go in and just use the tongue
depressor to get clear the tongue out the way

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and move it from side to side just to check
all the areas of the patient.

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Maybe can't manipulate their tongue where it
needs to be for you to assess.

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Okay, if the patient's got dentures, it's
trying to encourage them to remove the

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dentures and provide a denture pot if they
don't have their own and certainly soak them

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overnight. Warm water is absolutely fine.

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If you are cleaning teeth, it's important to
clean them with soap and water, not

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toothpaste, as it's been shown that
toothpaste is quite corrosive.

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It can scratch the surface of the dentures.

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So a mild soap and water to cleanse the
dentures and obviously use a toothbrush.

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Make sure you rinse the teeth well.

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Going back to using toothpaste with brushing
teeth for a patient, always provide them with

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something to spit the toothpaste out into
and assist with that if needed.

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So encourage them to spit toothpaste out, but
not to rinse.

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The toothpaste is best left in there because
then it has time to work its magic and that's

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what toothpaste needs to do.

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OK, however, it is patient choice.

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If they wish to rinse their mouth out, then
that's great.

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But if we can just inform them that good
practice now is to leave the toothpaste in

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there, but however, it makes them feel
comfortable.

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Along with health care, we check in the lip
area as well and make sure that they're moist

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and not cracked, if they are, you can use a
water based product to apply to the lips.

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And you'll often find that in the area, if
they're a little bit dehydrated or indeed

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they're on oxygen therapy, it dries the
area up quite quickly.

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So it's important to make sure that that's
all in good health.

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So that is mouth care, in essence, and once
finished, we could dispose of everything and

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hopefully the patient feels a little bit
better.

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Also, if you carry out good oral hygiene
with the patient, it also encourages them to

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eat better and drink more.