Oral consultation needs and diagnostic patterns by psychiatric disorder subtype among psychiatric inpatients in a general hospital: a retrospective study

Abstract Background Evidence on oral consultation needs and diagnostic patterns among psychiatric inpatients remains limited. This study compared oral consultation needs and diagnostic patterns across psychiatric disorder subtypes in a general hospital and examined the effects of age and sex on related outcomes. Methods This retrospective study included oral consultation records of psychiatric inpatients who received oral consultations during hospitalization at Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University between January 2022 and December 2025. Age, sex, psychiatric disorder subtype, consultation demand, and oral diagnosis were extracted. Differences across subtypes were assessed using Fisher’s exact test with Monte Carlo simulation, and Cramér’s V was calculated as a descriptive measure of effect size. Logistic regression was performed using consultation demand for prosthetic treatment of missing teeth as the outcome, with adjustment for sex and age quartiles; sensitivity analysis modeled age as a continuous variable. Results A total of 436 psychiatric inpatients were included. Tooth pain was the most common consultation demand (42.43%). Consultation demands and oral diagnostic distributions differed significantly across psychiatric disorder subtypes (Monte Carlo Fisher’s exact P < 0.001 for both; Cramér’s V = 0.195 and 0.210, respectively). Patients with organic mental disorders showed a higher proportion of consultation demand for prosthetic treatment of missing teeth, whereas patients with schizophrenia showed higher proportions of tooth pain and residual roots/crowns. In the primary quartile-based multivariable model, organic mental disorders were associated with consultation demand for prosthetic treatment of missing teeth (aOR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.08–4.13, P = 0.029), and age was consistently associated with this outcome across the main and sensitivity analyses. Conclusions Oral consultation needs and diagnostic patterns differed across psychiatric disorder subtypes among psychiatric inpatients who received oral consultations. Organic mental disorders were associated with consultation demand for prosthetic treatment of missing teeth in the primary model, while age showed a consistent association with this outcome. These findings describe oral consultation patterns rather than overall oral disease prevalence or differences from non-psychiatric hospitalized patients, and may help inform oral health assessment and referral strategies in psychiatric inpatient care.