In 2000 the oral health of 455 randomly selected subjects with mental and combined defects living in social welfare institutes or attending day- or week-stay homes were investigated. The mean age of the group was 24.6 years. During dental examination the cariosity and state of teeth were recorded by means of the DMF index, the state of dental hygiene by means of DI-OHI, affection of the gingiva was expressed by the PMA index, orthodontic anomalies were evaluated according to WHO criteria. The mean DMF value per head in the whole group was 8.76. The grade of treatment expressed by the restorative index (RI) was 74.0% and the grade of repair 84.5%. The standard of oral hygiene was low, on average almost two thirds of every tooth were covered with plague (DI 1.71). Inflammations of the papilla and marginal gingivitis were frequent as apparent from the value of the PMA index 1.73. A high proportion of subjects had some orthodontic abnormality.

        Key words: oral health in mentally affected subjects – cariosity – oral hygiene – state of gingiva