An assessment of the dental health of chronic institutionalized patients with psychiatric disease in Israel.

Many institutionalized patients with psychiatric disease have been discharged into the community and the patients who remain hospitalized are at a particularly high risk for dental disease. This study assessed the oral health and treatment needs of chronically hospitalized patients with psychiatric disease in Israel. A random sample of 301 patients hospitalized for more than 1 year in 14 of 18 psychiatric institutions in Israel was drawn from the National Psychiatric Hospitalization Registry, and 84.

Effect of implementing dental services in Israeli psychiatric hospitals on the oral and dental health of inpatients.

Objective: Psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, mood disorders, and organic brain disorders) and their treatment may lead to oral diseases, but assessment of dental status and oral care needs among patients with these disorders is lacking. This study reports changes in dental health and oral care needs of psychiatric inpatients after 1998, when psychiatric hospitals in Israel were required to provide regular dental examinations and treatment for every inpatient hospitalized longer than a year.

Methods: Two epidemiological cohorts from 1997 and 2006 representing long-term psychiatric inpatients before (N=431) and after (N=254) the reform of dental services were compared on the standardized criteria of the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index scores and DMFT component scores, as well as on the use of and need for dentures.