Brushing your teeth twice daily could boost your immunity to pneumonia during hospital stays, according to a new study.

In a study published Monday in JAMA Network Open, two Harvard Medical School doctors analyzed 15 clinical trials involving 2,786 hospitalized patients aged 16 or older.

They found that patients who brushed two to four times each day decreased their chances of developing the potentially fatal lung inflammation.

Additionally, patients attached to mechanical breathing machines spent less time on ventilators, checked out of intensive care units sooner and were less likely to die there.

Dr. Michael Klompas, a co-author of the study and an epidemiologist at Brigham and Young Women’s Hospital in Boston, said the findings build on established research identifying poor oral health as a risk factor for pneumonia.

“Pneumonia is thought to occur when secretions from the mouth get into the lungs,” Dr. Klompas told The Washington Times. “Since there are many microbes in the mouth, there’s a risk that secretions from the mouth that get into the lungs will lead to pneumonia. Toothbrushing may lower this risk by decreasing the quantity of microbes in the mouth.” 

He said the study “reaffirms the importance of toothbrushing for both oral health and general health” among hospital patients.

Patients in the clinical trials brushed their teeth with a soft manual or electric toothbrush, using a variety of techniques.

While pneumonia risks dropped significantly for all who brushed their teeth, the study found patients on ventilators experienced the best secondary health outcomes.

For example, hospitalized patients on ventilators who brushed at least twice a day left the ICU an average of two days sooner than those who did not.

In an invited commentary published with the study, Yale School of Medicine epidemiologist Rupak Datta highlighted several limitations in the data. He pointed out that the Harvard researchers included several overseas trials with different procedures than the U.S. and no more than a small sampling of non-ventilated patients.

However, he called it significant that toothbrushing helped patients hooked up to breathing machines.

“Collectively, this study represents an exciting contribution to infection prevention and reinforces the notion that routine toothbrushing is an essential component of standard of care in ventilated patients,” wrote Dr. Datta, who works in the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System.

• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.