Hospitalized Schizophrenics May Have Unmet Dental Needs
September 1, 2010
By Nancy Volkers
InteliHealth News Service
INTELIHEALTH - People who are institutionalized with schizophrenia may need greater attention paid to dental needs, says a Taiwanese study.
Researchers examined 1,108 institutionalized people with schizophrenia in Taiwan. They compared their oral health with that of 2,660 non-institutionalized Taiwanese adults.
About 73% of the schizophrenics were men. They had spent an average of about 8 1/2 years in an institution. On average, the institutionalized people had about 14 decayed, missing or filled teeth. The adults not in an institution had about 8 decayed, missing or filled teeth. The institutionalized group had fewer fillings and more missing or decayed teeth.
The institutionalized adults had an average of 17 to 18 teeth. The group of non-institutionalized adults had an average of 23 teeth. Adults can have as many as 32 teeth, including 4 wisdom teeth (third molars).
In the group of people with schizophrenia:
-
Having more decayed, missing or filled teeth was linked with older age.
-
Having fewer fillings, compared with decayed and missing teeth, was related to:
-
Older age
-
Lower education level
-
Lower income status
-
Longer time in an institution
-
Having fewer teeth overall was related to:
-
Older age
-
Lower education level
-
Longer time in an institution
Schizophrenics who took antipsychotic drugs did not have more tooth decay or other dental problems.
The authors note that this study may underestimate the true problems that institutionalized people with schizophrenia have. That's because several hundred people with schizophrenia were too ill to participate in the study. Those people may have even more severe dental problems than those in the study.
More than 3 million U.S. adults have schizophrenia. It is a long-term severe brain disorder. The symptoms can be treated, but there is no cure.
The study appears in the August 13 issue of the journal BioMed Central (BMC) Public Health.
| 
