(5) Encourage the patient to rinse his mouth frequently, using the drinking
tube, if necessary to draw water in his mouth. The basin receives the used rinse water.
(6)
Remove the basin; wipe his face and lips with the hand towel.
(7)
Remove and clean the equipment.
(8)
Wash your hands.
e. Procedure for a Patient Unable to Brush His Teeth. Following is the
procedure for providing mouth care for a patient unable to brush his teeth.
(1)
Proceed as in paragraph 1-12c above except that all steps are done for
the patient.
(2) Finish the mouth cleansing with a gentle brushing of the tongue from
back to front, and with a thorough final rinsing.
(3)
The patient's teeth should be flossed at least weekly.
1-13. CARE OF DENTURES
a. General. Dentures should be given the same careful cleansing as the natural
teeth. The conscious patient normally wears his teeth. Moreover, since some patients
are embarrassed by having artificial teeth, medical personnel should be considerate.
The patient normally cleans his mouth and natural teeth while dentures are out of his
mouth. Clean dentures under running water, if possible.
b. Equipment. The equipment necessary to clean dentures follows:
(1)
Tissues.
(2)
Washbasin.
(3)
Toothbrush or denture brush, dentifrice.
(4)
Denture container.
c. Procedure. The following procedure is appropriate for cleaning dentures for
a bed patient as in figure 1-13.
(1) Ask the patient to remove dentures and place them in the container,
which may be a glass of water if no other container is available.
(2) While the patient is cleaning his mouth, take his dentures to the sink.
Give him tissues to wipe his mouth.
MD0556
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