An oral health intervention for people with serious mental illness (Three Shires Early Intervention Dental Trial): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: Oral health is an important part of general physical health and is essential for self-esteem, self-confidence
and overall quality of life. There is a well-established link between mental illness and poor oral health. Oral health
problems are not generally well recognized by mental health professionals and many patients experience barriers
to treatment.
Methods/Design: This is the protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomised trial that has been designed to fit within
standard care. Dental awareness training for care co-ordinators plus a dental checklist for service users in addition
to standard care will be compared with standard care alone for people with mental illness. The checklist consists
of questions about service users’ current oral health routine and condition. Ten Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP)
teams in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire will be cluster randomised (five to intervention and five to
standard care) in blocks accounting for location and size of caseload. The oral health of the service users will be
monitored for one year after randomisation.
Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN63382258.