Dental behavior among hospitalized psychiatric patients in Helsinki

Objectives: To assess conceptions of oral health and dental behavior of hospitalized psychiatric patients with several known risk factors to oral health such as side-effects of medication. Methods: A pretested questionnaire was delivered to 170 hospitalized psychiatric patients undergoing long-term psychiatric care in Hesperia Psychiatric Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. Twenty per cent of the returned questionnaires were excluded due to missing or incomprehensive responses. Both genders were equally represented and the mean age was 40.7 with range 20-65 yrs. The principal diagnosis was schizophrenia in 75%, manic-depressive psychosis in 18% and abuse of drugs and/or alcohol in 16% of the patients studied. Results: More than half of the patients reported to have all upper and lower teeth remaining while 14% had dentures. Women considered their teeth to be in good condition more frequently than men (60% to 36%, respectively; p=0.011). Of the younger than 40-year-olds 58% assessed their dentition as good or rather good while the corresponding percentage for over 40-year-olds was 39% (p=0.016). Approximately one-third of the patients reported to have had visit to a dentist within the previous six months. Vast majority (80%) had contacted the dentist on their own initiative. The mode treatment during the latest visit was examination (58%), restorations (56%) and preventive/periodontal therapy (24%). Brushing teeth more often than once a day was reported by 43% and regular use of toothpaste by 71% of the patients. Women were more active in brushing their teeth (p=0.005) and in regular use of toothpaste (p=0.005). They also assessed more frequently their teeth to be in better condition than men (p=0.011). Conclusions: Contrary to our expectation psychiatric disease among these patients seemed not to have negatively affected their dental behavior which appeared similar to that known from non-psychiatric population in Finland.