ORAL HYGIENE PROTOCOLS IN HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENTS: LITERATURE REVIEW AND PROPOSAL FOR STANDARDIZATION

Abstract

Hospital Dentistry involves a set of preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic actions related to diseases of the orofacial region, oral manifestations of systemic origin, or sequelae from previous treatments. The objective is to assess the effectiveness of oral hygiene protocols used in hospitals, as well as to explore how the standardization of these practices can contribute to improving oral health care for hospitalized patients. This is an integrative literature review, constructed through a data survey from LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature), SCIELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online), and MedLine/PubMed (National Library of Medicine). Initially, 37 articles were collected in April 2025, using controlled health descriptors: oral hygiene; oral hygiene protocols; hospital dentistry, combined using the Boolean operator AND. Inclusion criteria included full-text articles addressing the research topic, in Portuguese or English, published between 2021 and 2025 (within the last five years). Exclusion criteria included duplicate articles, articles available only asabstracts, monographs, dissertations, theses, literature reviews, editorials, articles not aligned with the topic, and paid-access articles. The results revealed that the adoption of well-structured oral hygiene protocols, combined with adequate training of healthcare professionals, is essential for improving clinical outcomes in hospital settings. Standardization, adaptation to the specific needs of each patient, and the involvement of multidisciplinary teams are key strategies to ensure the effectiveness of these actions.