There is little information on the dental health status and treatment needs of sub-population groups especially psychiatric in-patients in developing countries such as Iran. This study aimed to assess the oral and dental health status in hospitalized psychiatric patients.

The study was conducted in two psychiatric hospitals (Shahid Beheshti and Bahman) in the city of Kerman, Iran. The study population comprise of 193 psychiatric patients. According to the duration of the hospital stay, patients were categorized into two groups of acute and chronic. The oral and dental health of the patients were assessed using Decay, Missing, Filling Teeth (DMFT) index and Oral Assessment Guide for Psychiatric Care (OAG-PC). High score for these two scales indicated a worse oral and dental health.

The mean DMFT and OAG-PC scores of patients were 19.74±7.88 and 20.77, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that patients in chronic group had higher OAG-PC (P=0.014), but the difference of DMFT scores was not statistically significant between two groups (0.57). After controlling the effects of confounding variables the differences of the DMFT and OAG-PC scores were not statistically significant between two groups (p values = 0.88 and 0.64, respectively).

The results of the present study showed that the oral and dental health in psychiatric patients were poor. Our findings indicate that it is vital to improve the oral and dental health status of psychiatric patients and thereby the quality of life of these patients.