Dental professionals and suicide awareness

Author's note: In memory of Trisha. I love you and think of you often.

All health-care professionals take an oath at graduation to invest in their patients. Dental professionals spend their careers providing care to patients so that they can have the most optimal health in their mouths. Every dental professional knows that the mouth is just a small portion, and that good oral health reflects in better systemic, or overall, physical health.¹

What dental professionals may not consider is that providing good oral care to patients may also help benefit their mental health.

In the last few years, big strides have been made to enlighten the world about how our physical health is connected to our mental health. Studies have shown that one can correlate with another, and one cannot be truly “healthy” without both being taken care of.¹

More recently, it seems the whole world has communities of individuals struggling with their mental health. Mental health can be a hard topic for some to approach because of its sensitivity to cultures, religions, and age groups; but truth be told, some of us are—or know of someone who is—struggling with a mental illness.^2,3 Unfortunately, a topic harder to discuss than mental illness is when a person loses their battle with mental illness, and becomes a victim of suicide.

Suicide, or the act of taking one’s own life with self-inflicted harm, has become increasingly common in our nation.^4,5 In 2022, 49 million people died by suicide, which is equivalent to one death every 11 minutes.⁴

The stigma of suicide

Suicide is often considered a conflicting topic to discuss because of its stigma. Cultures and religions feel that it is wrong for someone to end their life themselves.² What’s worse is that certain individuals believe mental illness is not a true illness, and that asking for treatment for it is considered a sign of being “weak.”³ This “taboo” thinking makes those struggling with mental illness somehow feel horrible for the way they are thinking or feeling. But ignoring mental health—specifically suicide—does not make it go away; it just makes it harder for those who need therapy or counseling to prevent or heal from a suicide attempt or to grieve the loss of a victim of suicide.^2,3

Dental professionals will most often hear about a suicidal event at some point in their career because suicides occur at such frequency in our culture. According to the US Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention, 13.2 million adults have contemplated suicide at some point in their life, while 1.6 enacted their plan.

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Suicide does not discriminate based on age, educational background, or race. Men, Native Americans, and anyone over age 80 are at an increased risk for suicidal attempts.^4-6 United States military veterans, LGBTQ, transgender, and children aged 10–14 are also all at an increased risk for suicidal ideations and attempts.^4-6 While these statistics highlight more frequent occurrences among these select patient populations, health-care professionals should know that anyone struggling with a mental illness may consider attempting suicide.

Warning signs of suicidal thoughts

Victims of suicide often exhibit many familiar warning signs before they attempt to end their life. Research has shown that some of these warning signs are impulsive, angry mood swings, a reclusive lifestyle, increased alcohol or drug use, tying up loose ends, giving possessions away, saying goodbye to family or friends.^3,5 Research has shown that dental professionals may notice other behaviors such as weight loss, lack of oral hygiene care, self-inflicted injuries in the intra- and extraoral regions, and possibly a lack of response or luster throughout the dental appointment.^1,3,5

How dental professionals can help

Dental professionals should document any changes in medical history in the patient’s medical chart.¹ Any admittance patients make to suicidal ideations should always be taken seriously. Dental professionals can always share the suicide prevention hotline number (988) if they believe their patient needs immediate support. The suicide prevention hotline is available online, by phone, or by text and runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.^1-6

As dental professionals, ask yourself if you are fully equipped to handle a patient in the operatory who needs to discuss mental illness. Would you know how to provide guiding words to help a patient who wants to understand how their mental illness has affected their oral health status? Would you be comfortable if a patient disclosed in their medical history that they had recently been hospitalized for attempting suicide?

Even if you have not had a patient disclose any of their mental health struggles, are you aware of all the different antidepressant and antianxiety medications and how they relate to the oral cavity? If we have vowed to help patients, then our oath does not stop at their oral cavity. Dental professionals should always actively listen to patients, document facts, and provide a sounding board that is free of judgment. If necessary, remind patients who are dealing with mental health issues that all disclosed medical events are kept confidential. We treat our patients because we care, and because we care, we want them to be happy and healthy.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month.^5,6 Throughout the month, many therapists, counselors, and other health-care professionals help bring hope to communities that have had to deal with suicide. One can often find walks, runs, and fundraisers aimed at helping professional organizations dealing with mental health and support for those who have lost loved ones to suicide.

Mental health therapists and counselors want more people to be aware of suicide statistics, suicidal warning signs, and how they can help prevent suicides from happening, if possible. Addressing suicide is a tough topic to tackle because there is no exact science on how to treat it. It’s not like CPR where we know the precise steps, in a certain order, that are equivalent to life-saving measures. What research has shown to be effective with suicide is being aware and open to listening to those victims who need to be heard.

All health-care professionals can receive training on how to discuss mental illness—specifically suicide—and these resources can be tailored to each unique situation. Professional resources are provided based on a patient’s ethnicity, age, or number of suicide attempts. There are guides for patients who have lost a loved one to suicide, and grief can look different for every patient.

When dental professionals receive these professional resources, they are not only bettering themselves as providers but bettering their community as well. Additional resources for dental professionals to become more affluent in suicide awareness could be generated. Perhaps we will see more publications or continuing education courses on this controversial topic in the future. Together, we can achieve more by bringing the spotlight onto suicide awareness, perhaps even saving a life.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Clinical Insights newsletter, a publication of the Endeavor Business Media Dental Group. Read more articles and subscribe.