Hello,

I did want to leave a small comment though about aspiration pneumonia. I have read that carefully flossing the teeth, brushing the tongue, and brushing the teeth, just before going to bed, can help to GREATLY reduce the incidence of aspiration pneumonia. They are not sure why, but many say that patients who implement a nightly flossing and brushing routine get much, much less occurrences of aspiration pneumonia. I am not sure if your gums are too sensitive to floss (if so, you may wish to start off by flossing very, very gently, or even just inserting the floss in between the teeth without touching the gums at all, to at least remove large food particles). It also sounds as if your tongue may be too swollen and too sore to scrape with the toothbrush. However, beginning to floss (again, this must be done before going to bed, at night, or in the early evening, followed by not eating), may help a great deal to prevent a re-occurrence of the aspiration pneumonia.

I hope this helps.

P.S. - I also forgot to mention that sleeping with the upper torso at a 45 degree angle from the bed may also help greatly to reduce aspiration pneumonia. A wedge pillow or large body pillow can help to sleep like this.

Please also remember to change your tooth brush once every 3-4 months.

**** ADMIN NOTE ***** When going thru surgery or radiation, mouth tissue can be very delicate and special care must be taken. Many patients are not able to use floss but can use a waterpik on its lowest setting to get between their teeth without bothering their overly sensitive mouths tissue.

My husband developed silent aspiration post radiation treatment. He was a diligent flosser , used an electric toothbrush but that did not stop him from having aspiration pneumonia.

Flossing may mean that the mouth is cleaner than if one wasn’t flossing, but that does not necessarily remove the bacteria that may cause pneumonia. John’s doctor determined he was suffering from pneumonia by doing a culture of his phlegm which found bacteria that were normally not found inside the body. He was put on anti-biotics for weeks and still he ended up at the hospital.

If a patient is getting pneumonia, the best thing to do is for him to go see his doctor ASAP and to work with a speech and language pathologist on swallowing techniques. It’s important to focus on swallowing when eating and not talk and eat, for example. It may also help to change the consistency of the food de-ending on the advice from the SLP. Aspiration pneumonia is a dangerous condition and it is important to follow medical advice.