Mouth Care Matters

Mouth Care Matters

Mouth Care Matters (MCM) is a Heath Education England initiative to improve the oral health of patients in hospital through education and training.

The Mouth Care Matters programme was developed and piloted at East Surrey Hospital under the leadership of a Special Care Dental Consultant. Following the successful pilot, Mouth Care Matters was then implemented in 12 trusts across Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) with further training delivered to 43 trusts across England to enable them to rollout the programme in their trusts.

To date Mouth Care Matters has delivered training to over 100 trusts in England.

Why does Mouth Care Matter?

Supporting patients with regular mouth care is a fundamental part of care that has frequently been identified as neglected and needing improvement. Good mouth care contributes to good oral health. Oral health is an important part of general health and wellbeing. It allows people to eat, speak and socialise without discomfort or embarrassment. Hospitalisation is associated with a deterioration of oral health in patients. This in turn has been linked to an increase in hospital-acquired infections (such as hospital-acquired pneumonia), poor nutritional uptake, longer hospital stays and increased care costs. Good oral health is also important for patient safety, dignity, and the ability to communicate is a key element of compassionate care.

Mouth Care Matters is based on four key themes.

Staff require:

Knowledge of the links between oral health and general health and wellbeing

Skills gained through training on how to carry out mouth care and assessments of the mouth

Access to tools needed to provide effective mouth care such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, denture pots, and easy access to dry mouth gels.

Support when necessary from doctors/dentists/ staff with enhanced mouth care skills such as mouth care leads

Who is responsible for mouth care?

MCM is not just for nursing staff in a hospital; it is also for other health care professionals including doctors, speech and language therapists, dieticians, occupational therapists and pharmacists. Oral health care should be on everyone’s radar and training can involve the multidisciplinary team.

What are the benefits of Mouth Care Matters?

Outcomes have been positive with improvements in mouth care recording and patient care benefiting both patients and staff working in Trusts. Following the scheme, one nursing assistant commented: “I have been a nursing assistant for over 10 years and have never had any mouth care training. I have learned so much like how to remove dried debris and how to suction the mouth, I never knew it could help prevent pneumonia.”

A daughter of a patient who benefited from the scheme said: “When my father was dying, his mouth became dry and really smelly, he was always really proud that he had all his own teeth. The nurse who cared for him had recently had training and showed the other nurses and ourselves how to help keep his mouth clean. We feel it made a big difference to how comfortable he was during his final days.”

In addition to improving patient care there are financial benefits. A health economics report into MCM at East Surrey Hospital found that, for every £1 invested, there was a saving of £2.66 in terms of fewer bed days, reduced number of prescriptions and GP visits. Social improvement has also been found with staff making positive changes to their oral hygiene habit and those of their families).

There are a range of MCM resources available including guides, toolkits, posters and digital videos. Learners can use these resources and adapt if necessary to improve oral health in their place of work.

Mouth Care Matters - elearning for healthcare