Dental dilemmas: can psychiatry help?

An overlap exists between dentsitry and psychiatry. The dentist, whose role is inevitably of considerable psychological significance, should be aware of the common psychiatric "disease entities", notably depressive illness, which can present through dental symptoms. Such disorders seldom respond to dental manoeuvers per se but often respond to psychiatric treatment. Some specific psychodental syndromes are described and illustrative case histories are given.