Oral health and dental services in Irish prison populations

There is insufficient data on the oral health of those incarcerated in Ireland and oral health is generally poorer in people in prison. The purpose of this study is to investigate and describe the oral health needs of people in prison, patterns of dental care and the outcomes of dental services in Irish prisons.

A retrospective chart review of patient dental records was undertaken from a sample across Ireland. Outcomes included the presence of active decay, reasons for initial presentation and patterns of service use.

The sample totalled 389 incarcerated persons. Fewer than 40% of this population had full dental charting completed. More than 40% of prisoners had active and untreated dental decay noted whilst addressing their presenting complaint. For 44.7% it was not possible to make any determination in relation to other oral health needs. The most common reason for initially accessing prison dental services was emergency presentation for pain or infection. The low proportion of prisoners with full dental charting is an important finding in itself, and reflects some of the challenges of providing dental care in prisons.

The recording of dental data is an important part of patient care. Incarcerated people are at high risk for oral diseases and demand for dental services frequently exceeds availability. More research is needed to establish and reduce the dental disease burden of people in prison, and how a reorientation towards preventative dentistry could be achieved in this population.