Are you finding advice about dental disease in people with serious mental illness?
The health of the body and mind have a close relationship with each other. There is proof to recommend those who experience mental illness also suffering from poor oral hygiene. If you are finding the best advice about it, then you are in the right place.
In the article, you will learn about dental disease in people with serious mental illness.
History
People who have mental health problems raised the chance of oral disease by hitting the teeth, mouth, and gums. They need extra dental treatment than ordinary people. Oral health is currently not an advantage for service users and mental health experts.
While by sensitivity, discoloration, tooth decay, and gum disease can attack our daily life aspects such as:
- eating,
- comfort,
- appearance,
- self-esteem
Poor dental health can offer other physical health problems like heart disease. Some medications used for severe mental illness can produce side effects that drive to oral disease.
Purpose Of The Statement
The Purpose of the statement is to provide up-to-date data about the treatment of oral and dental diseases that must give to patients with mental illnesses.
We will explain the most common oral and dental issues in patients with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar dementia with special attention in their treatment. We will also provide a short note on bruxism while this is not a mental disease, it developed in people with mental illnesses and psychosocial issues.
Depression:
Depression is a common and weakens disorder identified by lack of energy, anhedonia, disability to focus, reducing of desire, and feelings of sadness and hopelessness.
Which conflict with the daily activities of people. This loss influences their oral and dental health because the person who previously had good oral hygiene, lose interest in personal care. This lack of hygiene can finally start to teeth loss.
It is necessary to state that oral and dental health problems created by the manner of patients. Depression can reduce their self-confidence, negatively influencing the diagnosis or treatment of their mental illness.
Schizophrenia:
Schizophrenia is a long-term, critical disease. The appearance of abnormalities explains it in one or more of the following areas: delusions, hallucinations, disordered thinking, disorderly behavior, and negative symptoms: lack of thought, anhedonia, and low attack.
Research with patients with schizophrenia reveals that 61{cea9c169044c2b14a98ceffc8b31b53fccca1faefcfb14c5304a1fc862280967} of these patients have bad oral hygiene, adding situations such as dry mouth, teeth loss, and severe dental cavities. The dryness of the mouth explained by the minor outcomes of antipsychotic medication used in these patients.
Patients with schizophrenia regarded a high-risk group for catching a dental disease. Researches proof that they perform severe dental health than the typical population. It is also essential to mention that periodontal disease that attacks these patients linked to subclinical atherosclerosis, which inspire them to increase cardiovascular disease.
Other circumstances is a low regularity of teeth brushing and irregularity of visits to the dentist, smoking and poor die which influencing the dental health of the patients.
Bipolar Disorder:
Bipolar disorder identified by mood shifts that differ from manic incidents to depression, sometimes these shifts happen very quickly. Through the manic period, the patients seem very talkative, hyperactive and with signed disinhibition; on the other side, patients in the depressive phase show symptoms related to those presented up in the section about depression.
These patients are at high risk of catching dental cavities, xerostomia, abnormalities in taste understanding, and bruxism. It is necessary to be conscious of the several drugs utilized for the treatment of these patients. It is best for the dentist to talk about treating psychiatrist before initiating any medications.
Dementia:
Dementia is a sign identified by gradual loss of memory, disorientation, and difficulty with cognitive functions. It can result in diseases like Alzheimer, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, with others.
Researches reveal that patients with dementia have a poor oral and dental health opposite to the standard population, these patients have a higher rate of cavities, and they experience a loss of the flow of saliva. So, it is necessary to give knowledge of oral health to these patients.
Patients with dementia may not be able to explain or mention pain or distress or discomfort, some signs that can be defined as hints of discomfort are a prohibition to eat, regular self-beating in the face, increases in salivation, developed anxiety, and crying or screaming. Dental healthcare providers should be informed of these signs and should teach caregivers so that the patient can get health services promptly.
Bruxism:
Bruxism is not a mental disease — bruxism presented as a motor similar to anxiety.
Bruxism is the habit of clenching and rubbing of teeth, with ineffectual ignorant movements that can happen during sleeplessness or during sleep. This disorder can create dental damage, pain in the jaw bone area, headaches. External, middle and psychosocial circumstances are pertinent in the pathophysiology of bruxism, between those circumstances are sleep disorders, stress, anxiety, depression, and other oral disorders.
Now, the treatment of this disorder has two principal aims: reducing the impacts produced by bruxism and taking the patient to know this habit. The procedures used include therapeutic exercises, manual therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, electrotherapy, and acupuncture.
The most common problems for patients with mental illness :
Mental illnesses that can hurt a person’s oral health involve anxiety and depression, eating disorders, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, self-harm, and psychosis.
Neglect:
Research has revealed that the people who are suffering from mental illnesses start to avoid heir dental care so much. Ignoring oral hygiene can cause gum disease and tooth decay.
Anxiety:
Some people have dental phobia. Because of this, they stop visiting their dentist frequently. Irregular dental visits have a critical influence on oral health.
Eating Disturbances:
People who are suffering from a situation such as Bulimia also undergo dental decay by the acidity in vomit. Low levels of calcium are also typical, which can harm the health of the teeth.
Brushing Actions:
Over hard brushing actions by the people with bipolar as comparable diseases could result in them brushing off the enamel on the surface of the tooth.
Medication:
Medications people are taking may provide disadvantageous oral results, like dry mouth, which is as a result of decreased saliva flow. It is necessary for the caretaker to be conscious of the connection between oral health and mental health.
People who are experiencing mental health problems should understand the importance of good oral health and be excited to keep good dental habits.
Three Important Notes
1. Brush once before sleep at night and one time during the day with a fluoride toothpaste.
2. Decrease the number of sugary foods and drinks.
3. Attend the dentist frequently, as they suggested.
Best Advice For Caretaker
As a caretaker, you also perform a duty in supporting those with mental illness to know the harmful results like smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol to extra and drug usage.
By promoting a better lifestyle, helping them in an actual daily routine feel them more satisfied with taking dental care, you can manage the oral health of a person who has a mental illness.
In The End
Thanks for running with us expect this article will be helpful for you. Here in this article you learn about dental disease in people with serious mental illness and get different pieces of advice and information. Please share this article with others who also want to know about this, or they are suffering from this problem. Never forget to share your view with us so comment below.
