{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T11:45:35Z","timestamp":1785930335919,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785888000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Major burn injury causes systemic immune dysregulation and increases susceptibility to infectious complications. While poor oral health is a potential reservoir for respiratory pathogens, its impact on burn patients\u2014who often require repeated airway manipulation\u2014is not well-defined. This study investigated the association between preoperative dental status and postoperative pneumonia in patients undergoing burn surgery. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 894 adult patients (\u226519 years) admitted to a burn intensive care unit (ICU) between 2015 and 2024. Preoperative dental status was categorized as favorable or unfavorable (\u22652 missing teeth, loose teeth, or fractured teeth). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pneumonia. Secondary outcomes included 90-day hospital-free days and ICU-free days. Results: Postoperative pneumonia occurred in 294 patients (32.9%). The incidence of postoperative pneumonia was 47.7% among patients with unfavorable preoperative dental status, compared with 31.2% among those with favorable preoperative dental status (p &lt; 0.001). In multivariable analysis, unfavorable dental status was an independent predictor of 30-day pneumonia (odds ratio, 1.681; 95% confidence interval, 1.084\u20132.599; p = 0.018). Patients with unfavorable status also had significantly fewer 90-day hospital-free days (9 vs. 22 days, p = 0.034) and ICU-free days (65 vs. 68 days, p = 0.012). Conclusions: Unfavorable preoperative dental status is independently associated with an increased risk of postoperative pneumonia and poorer clinical recovery in burn patients. Routine dental assessment may serve as a simple tool for perioperative risk stratification in patients undergoing burn surgery.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62081506","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T10:41:42Z","timestamp":1785926502000},"page":"1506","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dental Status and 30-Day Postoperative Pneumonia in Burn Surgery Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Jihion","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hee Yeong","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6253-9509","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Young Joo","family":"Seo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul 07247, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1982-3053","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Young-Kug","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1038\/s41572-020-0145-5","article-title":"Burn injury","volume":"6","author":"Jeschke","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat. 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