Oral health of psychiatric patients: A cross-sectional comparision study

BACKGROUND: Mental illness is associated with physical health. Oral health affects people physically and psychologically and influences how they grow, enjoy life, look, speak, chew, taste food and socialize. Oral health may have lower priority in the context of mental illness and these diverse and changing client group experiences similar oral and dental problems. OBJECTIVE: To assess oral health problems in psychiatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 133 patients attending the psychiatric outpatient department (OPD) as the study group and 133 patients attending the general OPD of the same hospital as the control group. Both groups were examined for oral health status. RESULTS: Mean age of the study group was 40.2 years, 66.17% were males, 66.17% were married and 83.67% belonged to middle or lower class. 39.8% of patients had mental illness for 1-5 years, 88% were self sufficient and 34.6% had healthy oral practices. These results are very much comparable with the control group. Mean decayed missed filled teeth (DMFT) score (2.10) and mean oral hygiene index-simplex (OHI-S) score (3.6) increased with age. Difference in DMFT score with age was not statistically significant (P>0.5) while it was highly significant for OHI-S score (P<0.0001). Periodontal condition worsened as age increased, suggested by community periodontal index. Only 26.7% of patients had healthy gingiva in the age group 20-50 years while it was zero for 50 years and above. This difference is statistically significant (P<0.001).