Oral Hygiene Status, Dental Caries Experience and Treatment Needs among Psychiatric Outpatients in Chennai, India Anita M.1, Rekha U. Vidhya2, Kandavel Sadhana2 1Reader, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, BIHER 2Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, BIHER Online published on 31 March, 2020. Abstract Objective To assess the oral hygiene status, dental caries experience and treatment needs among psychiatric outpatients in Chennai. Basic Research Design A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on patients receiving care at the Outpatient Wing of The Department of Psychiatry, Stanley Medical College and Hospital, Chennai. A cluster sampling technique was employed. Participants The study sample consisted of 159 male and 145 female psychiatric patients. Main Outcome Measures Oral hygiene status, Dental caries experience and Treatment needs. Results Among the male subjects; 9 (5.6%), 75(47.2%) and 75(47.2%) had good, fair and poor oral hygiene, respectively. Among the female subjects; 9(6.2%), 87(60%) and 49(33.8%) had good, fair and poor oral hygiene, respectively. The overall mean DMFT among males and females was 7.8±0.52 and 8.01±0.50, respectively. Association between age and DMFT score was found to be statistically very highly significant [X2= 54.64, df = 4, p = 0.000]. The association between gender and DMFT score was found to be statistically not significant [X2= 3.73, df = 1, p = 0.053].Prevalence of dental caries in the study population was 83.55% Conclusion The oral hygiene status of psychiatric outpatients is poor. Dental caries experience and treatment needs are high. Top Keywords Oral hygiene status, Dental caries experience, Psychiatric outpatients. Top |