engleski

Dental and prosthodontic status in posttraumatic stress disorder patients

Obectives. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic psychiatric illness that may arise after an individual experienced or witnessed a terrifying event. Individuals with PTSD have disturbances of neurohormonal and immune system. Since, dental caries and periodontal diseases are infectious diseases, high rate of dental caries and more dental loss could be expected among PTSD patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate oral health status of Croatian war veterans with PTSD. Methods. The study involved 79 war veterans with PTSD (mean age 40.79&#177; 6.75). They were compared with 60 age-matched sequential dental clinic patients without PTSD who didn&#8217; t participate in war (mean age 39.92&#177; 7.33). Dental caries, prosthetic status and treatment need were charted using the oral health assessment form according to WHO clinical procedure. Student t-test and chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. Results. The mean number of teeth in PTSD group was 21.36&#177; 6.83, and in the control group was 24.65&#177; 6.27 (p=0.004). PTSD patient had more decayed, missing and less filled teeth than control (p<0.05 for all). Furthermore, 79.9% of PTSD patients needed any dental treatment, mostly caries treatment with one or more surfaces filling. In 2.10% teeth extractions were indicated. In the control group 15% of subjects need any dental treatment. Compared to control, PTSD patient were less prosthodontic rehabilitated. Great majority of PTSD patients (92.4%) needed same form of prosthodontic treatment. Conclusion. Dental patients with PTSD need additional oral hygiene education to prevent further teeth loss. Furthermore, there is need to work with their dentist to rehabilitate the decayed and missing teeth.

dental status; prosthodontic status; PTSD

Journal of Dental Research (0022-0345) 85 (2006) Special Issue B