Abstract
Psychiatric patients were estimated to be approximately 2.7% of the total population. There were 574 psychiatric medical facilities and 69 psychiatric asylums. Generally Psychiatric patients have poor oral hygiene. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dental health status and oral hygiene ability of psychiatric patients. The author surveyed 566 psychiatric patients in order to compare the oral health status to national survey in Korea. Such items as DMF survey, CPITN survey and PHP index were examined and analysed. The following results were obtained. 1. Caries incidences of psychiatric patients were revealed higher than those of ordinary people, as DMF rate was examined 96.6%, DMFT rate was 24.4% and DMFT index was $7.10\pm5.33$. 2. Many caries remained with untreated cavities in psychiatric patients. So the proper system of dental cares for psychiatric patients should be established. 3. Average CPITN index and PHP index of psychiatric patients were higher than those of ordinary people and there was no difference in caries activity between the psychiatric patients and ordinary people. 4. Periodic re-instruction for tooth brushing should be performed for psychiatric patients to enhance the oral hygiene ability.