Oral and Dental Health
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Are dental-related psychological variables important for dental attendance in China? A cross-sectional studyOBJECTIVEDental services are expanding in China, yet there is little evidence available on the dental-related psychological factors contributing to the uptake of dental services. Our study explored whether beliefs, anxiety, and cognitions significantly differ across different levels of attendance, and whether dental-related psychological variables can independently predict dental attendance in Chinese adults. We also explored the extent to which cognitions and beliefs relate to attendance as a function of dental anxiety.METHODIn our cross-sectional study 480 adult participants in China completed a questionnaire including dental attendance and measures of dental-related psychological variables (dental cognitions, beliefs, anxiety, and fear of dental pain).RESULTSOnly 25.8% of participants visited the dentist regularly. There was a significant difference for all dental-related psychological variables (p < 0.001), across all three levels of dental attendance (never; irregularly or regularly attend). Thus, fear of dental pain and dental anxiety are higher, and cognitions and beliefs are more negative, for those who have less favorable dental service utilization. All these variables, except fear of dental pain, were also independent predictors of dental attendance (p < 0.05). Moreover, how individuals think, and what they believe, about the dentist (and the dental context) were only partially explained through dental anxiety. Thus, beliefs (β = 0.579, SE = 0.035, p < 0.001) and cognitions (β = 0.594, SE = 0.045, p < 0.001) are impacting on dental attendance, mostly independent of whether the individual is anxious.CONCLUSIONOur preliminary findings show dental-related psychological factors are related to dental attendance and these should be explored further in a larger sample.
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Monitoring oral health of people in Early Intervention for Psychosis (EIP) teams: The extended Three Shires randomised trialBackground The British Society for Disability and Oral Health guidelines made recommendations for oral health care for people with mental health problems, including providing oral health advice, support, promotion and education. The effectiveness of interventions based on these guidelines on oral health-related outcomes in mental health service users is untested.
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Oral health advice for people with serious mental illnessThe objective of this review is to find the effects of oral health advice for people with serious mental illness. We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (October 2009), inspected references of all identified studies, and contacted the first author of each included study if required. We independently extracted data and calculated random effects, relative risk, 95% CI, and, where appropriate, numbers needed to treat/harm on an intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data, we calculated weighted mean differences. Result shows that one randomized controlled trial, randomizing fewer than 60 people to receive oral health motivational interviewing from a psychologist in addition to an education package vs the use of the education package alone. After 8 weeks, the intervention group showed a better dental state and a higher level of knowledge about oral health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
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An oral health intervention for people with serious mental illness (Three Shires Early Intervention Dental Trial): Study protocol for a randomised controlled trialBACKGROUND: Oral health is an important part of general physical health and is essential for self-esteem, self-confidence and overall quality of life. There is a well-established link between mental illness and poor oral health. Oral health problems are not generally well recognized by mental health professionals and many patients experience barriers to treatment.
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Open wide: A dental health and toothbrush exchange project at an inpatient recovery and rehabilitation unitExcess morbidity in people with enduring mental illness is well known. The promotion of healthier lifestyles and physical health monitoring has started to receive more attention in recent years. Despite this, the British Society for Disability and Oral Health (BSDH) has highlighted extensive unmet needs for inpatients with mental illness who have poor levels of oral health and hygiene compounded by restricted access to dental services. An audit cycle of oral health and hygiene was completed at Heather Close Recovery Unit (HCRU), Mansfield in 2009 and 2010, with the aims to improve the oral healthcare of the patients at HCRU and to develop the multidisciplinary team’s ability to promote, monitor and enable patients to look after their dental health. A total of 59 people were helped to fill in the questionnaire during two audit runs. Improvement in access to toothbrushes increased from 68% to 86%. There is also an improvement in knowledge of basic oral hygiene practice from 55% to 61%. The ideally recommended practice of brushing teeth twice daily increased from 29% to 38% in our patients. There was a little improvement in the number of patients registered with the dentist since the last audit. We believe that prevention and early intervention are keys to addressing dental health problems in psychiatric patients. The improvement in oral/dental healthcare of patients with chronic mental illness should be seen as part of the holistic recovery package. Effective liaison with community preventive dentistry teams can play a vital role in educating mental health practitioners and patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract)
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An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniquesBACKGROUND: Behaviour management techniques (BMTs) are utilised by dentists to aid children's dental anxiety (DA). Children's perceptions of these have been underexplored, and their feedback could help inform paediatric dentistry.