UNITED STATES DENTAL PROFESSIONALS' PERCEPTIONS OF DENTAL ANXIETY AND NEED FOR SEDATION IN PATIENTS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS.

Dental fear is a barrier to receiving dental care, particularly for those patients who also suffer from mental illnesses. The current study examined United States dental professionals' perceptions of dental fear experienced by patients with mental illness, and frequency of sedation of patients with and without mental illness. Dentists and dental staff members (n = 187) completed a survey about their experiences in treating patients with mental illness. More participants agreed (79.8%) than disagreed (20.2%) that patients with mental illness have more anxiety regarding dental treatment (p < .001) than dental patients without mental illness. Further, significantly more participants reported mentally ill patients' anxiety is "possibly" or "definitely" a barrier to both receiving (96.8%; p < .001) and providing (76.9%; p < .01) dental treatment. Despite reporting more fear in these patients, there were no significant differences in frequency of sedation procedures between those with and without mental illness, regardless of type of sedation (p's > .05). This lack of difference in sedation for mentally ill patients suggests hesitancy on the part of dental providers to sedate patients with mental illness and highlights a lack of clinical guidelines for this population in the US. Suggestions are given for the assessment and clinical management of patients with mental illness.