Dental health and access to dental treatment: a comparison of drug users and non-drug users attending community pharmacies

Objective To investigate the self-reported oral health, access to dental treatment and recent use of dental services among a group of drug users attending community pharmacies and to make a comparison with a group of age and gender matched community non-drug users/patients not using services for drug users. Method Review instrument completed by pharmacist interviewing drug users and other pharmacy users. Setting Community pharmacists Sampling All known drug users attending participating pharmacies plus an equivalent number of age and gender matched non-drug using pharmacy customers. Final sample size drug users N = 125; non-drug users N = 129. Key findings The data show that drug users self-report considerably more difficulty in accessing dental treatment, are less likely to have visited the dentist in the last 12 months and have a significantly higher level of self-assessed oral health problems, with less use of treatment services than non drug users. Conclusions Drug users need to be encouraged to access free dental treatment available to them on the NHS. Closer collaboration between the dental profession and others in contact with drug users, such as community pharmacists, may enhance uptake of dental services.