Oral hygiene and dental care in psychiatry: Experience of the Gers psychiatric hospital. 1. preliminary report

In psychiatry, there is no specific program of prevention and dental care monitoring, for a particularly vulnerable population. In fact, behavioral disorders (agitation, self-aggression and aggression towards others), lack of cooperation or opposition, loss of autonomy, and a loss of physical bearings, are all obstacles to access to dental care. Psychiatric teams currently lack training in daily oral hygiene, and the protocols that do exist are unsuitable for use in psychiatric situations. The Gers psychiatric hospital became aware of this fact and an oral hygiene program is now a part of the global care program for hospitalized patients. First, the psychiatric, general, and dental health of 39 long-term hospitalized patients was monitored, and data on nursing practices in oral and prosthetic hygiene were collected. Protocols will now be adapted to help medical staff to improve the daily care of this specific patient population.