Hospital patients not getting their teeth brushed, or not brushing their teeth themselves, is believed to be a leading cause of hundreds of thousands of cases of pneumonia a year in patients who have not been put on a ventilator. A majority of cases are non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia, or NVHAP, which kills up to 30% of those infected. Many cases of NVHAP could be avoided if hospital staffers more dutifully brushed the teeth of bedridden patients, according to a growing body of peer-reviewed research. NVHAP, a risk for virtually all hospital patients, is often caused by bacteria from the mouth...