Severity of Psychiatric Disorders and Dental Health Among Psychiatric Outpatients in Jerusalem, Israel

The association between severity of psychiatric disorder and dental disease has not been adequately studied. The aim of the present study was to examine the level of dental caries morbidity and the association with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) and mild/moderate psychiatric disorders. The population sample included patients aged 30 to 50, treated at the Hadassah psychiatric outpatient clinic, after giving written informed consent. Exclusion criteria included eating disorders which are recognized as being associated with several dental pathologies. The term SMI, frequently used in the literature (1), refers to psychiatric patients suffering from a significant mental disorder and implies a greater burden of illness and dysfunction. The SMI group in this study included patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, resistant depression and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The mild/ moderate illness group consisted of all other psychiatric disorders on Axis I or II according to DSM IV-TR (2).