Psychological Status in the Special Oral Care Patient

Psychological Status in the Special Oral Care Patient

A Centre for Special Oral Care is a facility set up for patients unable to be treated in a general dentistry clinic. In a multidisciplinary environment patients are treated with, for example, congenital anomalies, denture problems, dental fear, temporomandibular dysfunction and medically related dental problems. A group of these patients often show complaints that cannot be attributed completely to a dental problem. In these patients psychological factors may play a crucial role. If patients with dental complaints influenced by psychological factors can be identified, probably numerous repeated, unnecessary, and unsuccessful dental treatments can be prevented. Nevertheless, it is not clear beforehand to which extent psychological factors should be considered. The aim of this study is to get more insight in general health status and psychological status of the Special Oral Care patient. In total 828 patients filled out questionnaires measuring health status. Patients with congenital anomalies show the least problems, but other patient groups are difficult to distinguish. There is major heterogeneity in all groups. This means that a dental diagnosis is not predictive for the role of psychological factors in the dental complaints. Therefore, a detailed evaluation of different aspects of patients’ health and psychological status is warranted to make dental treatment in the Special Oral Care patient more efficient and successful.