Impact of oral health management on mental health and psychological disease: a scoping review

ObjectiveThe relationship between oral and mental health has been controversial. Few studies have assessed the direct effects of oral health management on mental health and psychological disease. Using evidence from the last 5 years, this scoping review aimed to map and discuss recent progress in understanding this relationship.MethodsElectronic literature searches were performed using PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases. An additional manual search was performed using Google Scholar databases. Studies were selected using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 flow diagram.ResultsAn eligibility review process identified three randomized controlled trials for inclusion in this review. The oral health interventions and participants’ target age, mental health status, and psychological diseases varied across these studies. The only study that reported an improvement included psychosocial support integrated with educational components of oral health as the intervention. The remaining two studies detected no significant impact of oral health interventions on mental health and psychological disease.ConclusionsEvidence of the impact of oral health management on mental health and psychological disease is insufficient in studies published between 2017 and 2021.