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.