Preventive Dental Visits Among Older Adults With Mental Health Conditions: A Retrospective Cohort Study From a Dental School Setting.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the frequency of annual preventive dental visits among older adults with self-reported mental health conditions receiving care at a dental school and to identify the variables associated with visit prevalence.

METHODS

Data were extracted from electronic health records for all individuals aged 65 years or older who self-reported a mental health condition between 2008 and 2024. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants were summarized using descriptive statistics, and significant predictors of annual preventive dental visits were identified through a multivariable logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 3846 subjects met the inclusion criteria. From this total, 1,853 (48.2%) received preventive dental services and 1,294 (33.6%) had at least one annual preventive dental visit. Within this group, 64.2% were female, the average age was 76.0 ± 9.1 years, 54% were self-paying, 62% resided within 30 miles of the clinic, and 70.9% were treated by pre-doctoral students. Nearly 43% were obese, and they reported taking an average of 7.8 ± 7.2 daily medications. The average number of teeth was 25.0 ± 7.3. Additionally, 83.7% had heart disease, 54.9% experienced xerostomia, and 5.3% reported a history of illicit drug addiction. Approximately 40% used tobacco, 45.7% had diabetes, and 30.7% struggled with alcohol addiction. Each additional year of age was associated with a 4% increase in the odds of attending two or more annual preventive dental visits (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01-1.08; p = 0.004). Additionally, patients treated by faculty members had significantly higher odds of attending two or more annual preventive dental visits compared to those treated by predoctoral students (OR = 3.77, 95% CI: 2.24-6.36; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

In this sample of older adults with self-reported mental health condition, about one-third had at least one annual preventive dental visit during the observation period. Receiving care from faculty members was significantly associated with increased odds of attending annual preventive dental visits.