Access to oral health services is a basic right. It is recognized that psychiatry patients have a greater risk for dental problems. This is often due chaotic lifestyles, avoidance of health care and inability to engage with treatment. To this end the department of health has recommended this group of patients warrants particular attention.

To ensure basic oral health promotion in this group, identify implementations to facilitate this promotion and access to oral health care. Specifically to assess need for special dental clinics, automatic recall reminders or support for registering with a dental practitioner.

To assess the need for and access to basic oral health care among a group of psychiatric in patients in Mersey Care NHS Trust.

Audit tool was a questionnaire, researcher administered, developed from British Society for Disability and Oral Health guidelines (2000).

From a sample of 97 service users, 80 participated. 51% had not been to a dentist in over a year, 56% were not registered with a dentist, 12.5% did not own a toothpaste, 51% brushed less than once a day, 71% smoked, 56% felt they needed treatment and 45% had oral side effects from prescribed psychotropic medication.

Oral health within service users of mental health services should be a priority. Oral health promotion should be encompassed within the care we provide, steps to promote better oral health should include the provision of toothbrushes on admission, teethbrushing advice, frequency of brushing and registration with dentists should be addressed.