Bad teeth can cause all sorts of problems. Researchers at the University of Buffalo examined dental plaques in unhealthy older people.

What the researchers wanted to know: Do dental plaques in elderly people who live in nursing homes contain bacteria that can cause pneumonia?

What they did: The researchers collected plaques from the teeth of 49 people when they were admitted to the intensive care unit, and checked the plaques for bacteria that can cause pneumonia, including Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenzae. All 49 patients needed a ventilator to breathe. None had pneumonia at the beginning of the study; they were checked daily for signs of pneumonia.

What they found: Fourteen of the patients came down with pneumonia in the intensive care unit. The patients who contracted pneumonia had more plaque on their teeth and were more likely to have respiratory pathogens living in their plaques. Overall, more than half of the patients had respiratory pathogens living on their teeth.

What the study means to you: If the researchers are right and teeth are an important reservoir of bacteria that cause pneumonia, maybe more attention should be paid to dental hygiene in nursing homes.

Caveats: It's possible that the samples of dental plaque were contaminated with bacteria from the patients' saliva, but unlikely—the person who took the samples dried the teeth with sterile gauze before taking each sample.

Find out more: Read information about dental care for people with Alzheimer's disease.

Read the article: El-Solh, A.A., et al. "Colonization of Dental Plaques: A Reservoir of Respiratory Pathogens for Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia in Institutionalized Elders." Chest. November 2004, Vol. 126, No. 5, pp. 1575-1582.

Abstract online: http://www.chestjournal.org