The Interplay between Oral Health and Mental Health: Impact on Patients and Health Care Professionals

Dear Colleagues,

The interplay between oral health and mental health is an important and arguably somewhat neglected topic in health research. However, it is known that mental health status impacts a wide range of oral health issues, such as the prevalence of periodontitis, caries, and tooth loss. Furthermore, mental health problems might have an impact on oral health.  Individuals that suffer the dual burden of mental health problems and substance abuse are faced with the added challenge of the side effects of substances and medications, such as oral health problems related to xerostomia as well as behavioral challenges related to a life with substance abuse. While mental health might impact oral health parameters, the reverse is also true.
 The impact of oral health on rehabilitation from mental diseases and substance abuse needs more well-designed research studies. While these issues have profound importance to patients, an interesting topic is also how professionals view, think about, and respond to the interplay between oral health and mental health. 

This Special Issue of IJERPH seeks to shed further light on the interplay between oral health and mental health, both in relation to patients and health care professionals, including students. We welcome papers with a wide range of methodological approaches, including quantitative and qualitative studies.

Dr. Jan-Are K. Johnsen
Prof. Dr. Tiril Willumsen
Prof. Dr. Rolf Wynn
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• oral health
• mental health
• psychiatry
• public health dentistry
• substance-related disorders
• professional ethics
• clinical decision making
• health behavior
• health psychology