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I came across the name of a new subspecialty in psychiatry called "liaison psychiatry" .This subpecialty is a branch of psychiatry that works at the medical- psychiatric interface (as well as the dental-psychiatric interface). It's interesting how in latter years, various health professions are working in conjunction with members of other health domains. Are people in this forum familiar with liaison psychiatry? What are your experiences, if any, with dental phobic patients or patients presenting with symptoms in the head and neck area (eg. burning mouth syndrome and other orofacial pain syndromes) which were of psychosomatic origin?
From the article :
http://www.priory.com/psych/dentpsych.htm
"Liaison psychiatry is fast emerging as a well-recognized subspecialty within psychiatry . The boundaries of this subspecialty are ill defined and extend into various branches of medicine. Though psychiatric consultation liaison in dental practice is still in its infancy in this country, the contribution of behavioral sciences in management of psychosomatic symptoms in patients presenting to dental specialists was recognized early elsewhere
Dentists spend a considerable amount of time treating patients who present with either psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety or with physical manifestations of underlying emotional disturbances. Common manifestations of covert emotional disturbance in patients in dental practice include oral dysaesthesia, atypical facial pain and other atypical syndromes. Increasing attention needs to be given to identify and appropriately treat somatoform disorders, more so, as they constitute one-third to one-half of referrals to any liaison psychiatry service .
Recognizable psychopathology is seen in up to 30% of patients attending dental clinics
and this often goes undetected and hence untreated. Dental specialists, often come across patients, who present with complaints of pain, abnormalities of sensation, movement and salivation involving the mouth and face, which are a manifestation of underlying emotional disturbance and not due to a clearly identifiable physical cause. Early and appropriate recognition of such emotional distress would benefit both the individual and the health service.
Given the prevalence and impact of unrecognized and untreated psychiatric disorders in patients presenting in dental practice, there follows the need for a service to address this unmet need. This would directly provide a framework for psychiatric- dental liaison and indirectly lead to better understanding of psychiatric disorders by dental specialists, which in turn will lead to early identification and referral to such a service if one exists. It has been shown elsewhere that availability of psychiatric liaison service will lead to an increase in rate of referrals."
From the article :
http://www.priory.com/psych/dentpsych.htm
"Liaison psychiatry is fast emerging as a well-recognized subspecialty within psychiatry . The boundaries of this subspecialty are ill defined and extend into various branches of medicine. Though psychiatric consultation liaison in dental practice is still in its infancy in this country, the contribution of behavioral sciences in management of psychosomatic symptoms in patients presenting to dental specialists was recognized early elsewhere
Dentists spend a considerable amount of time treating patients who present with either psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety or with physical manifestations of underlying emotional disturbances. Common manifestations of covert emotional disturbance in patients in dental practice include oral dysaesthesia, atypical facial pain and other atypical syndromes. Increasing attention needs to be given to identify and appropriately treat somatoform disorders, more so, as they constitute one-third to one-half of referrals to any liaison psychiatry service .
Recognizable psychopathology is seen in up to 30% of patients attending dental clinics
and this often goes undetected and hence untreated. Dental specialists, often come across patients, who present with complaints of pain, abnormalities of sensation, movement and salivation involving the mouth and face, which are a manifestation of underlying emotional disturbance and not due to a clearly identifiable physical cause. Early and appropriate recognition of such emotional distress would benefit both the individual and the health service.Given the prevalence and impact of unrecognized and untreated psychiatric disorders in patients presenting in dental practice, there follows the need for a service to address this unmet need. This would directly provide a framework for psychiatric- dental liaison and indirectly lead to better understanding of psychiatric disorders by dental specialists, which in turn will lead to early identification and referral to such a service if one exists. It has been shown elsewhere that availability of psychiatric liaison service will lead to an increase in rate of referrals."
Why else did I choose this profession?
