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Summary: Purpose: We performed a dental survey of epilepsy patients to examine their oral health by statistical means and to provide a guide for the dental treatment of these patients. Methods: We first set up four “dental” subgroups of epilepsy patients, based on the types of seizures, seizure frequency, and mental state. One hundred one patients underwent a survey concerning their dental, medical, and epilepsy histories, followed by a dental examination. Indexes quantifying oral hygiene, the number and condition of the remaining teeth, periodontium, and the degree of prosthetic treatment were measured. An age-matched control group of general (nonepilepsy) population underwent an identical dental examination. Statistical comparison was performed between the patient and the control groups and between subgroups of epilepsy patients. Results: In almost all aspects of oral health and dental status, patients with epilepsy showed a significantly worse condition compared with the control group. Comparison of the subgroups of epilepsy patients revealed that the most severe findings concern patients who have poorly controlled epilepsy, especially those who have frequent generalized tonic‐clonic seizures. Conclusions: The observed difference probably results from a combination of factors such as the effect of the seizures themselves, socioeconomic conditions, and the negative attitude of dentists. We recommend that the planning of dental treatment of such patients should start with the assessment of their disease and determination of the “dental” subgroup to which they belong. For each subgroup, specific recommendations for interventions are given. Key Words: Epilepsy—Oral health—Dental— Periodontal—Prosthetic. It is a general impression that patients with epilepsy tend to have poorer oral health and receive less adequate dental treatment in comparison with the general (nonepilepsy) population (1‐4). We have set out to take a survey of oral health and dental status of patients with epilepsy in comparison with the nonepilepsy population. To our knowledge, only one such survey has been published (3), which was, however, uncontrolled. Others concentrated on only the periodontal status in relation to antiepileptic medication (AEDs) (5,6). Our aim was to test statistically whether these patients did indeed have poorer oral health compared with that of the nonepilepsy population, and if so, to cast light on the possible reasons and measures to be taken to avoid it. Oral health is an important aspect of quality of life, and every effort should therefore be made to improve oral health, especially in a group of people already disadvantageously affected by their disease. Epilepsy patients are a heterogeneous group, comprising patients with a wide variety of etiologies, seizure types

We performed a dental survey of epilepsy patients to examine their oral health by statistical means and to provide a guide for the dental treatment of these patients.We first set up four "dental" subgroups of epilepsy patients, based on the types of seizures, seizure frequency, and mental state. One hundred one patients underwent a survey concerning their dental, medical, and epilepsy histories, followed by a dental examination. Indexes quantifying oral hygiene, the number and condition of the remaining teeth, periodontium, and the degree of prosthetic treatment were measured. An age-matched control group of general (nonepilepsy) population underwent an identical dental examination. Statistical comparison was performed between the patient and the control groups and between subgroups of epilepsy patients.In almost all aspects of oral health and dental status, patients with epilepsy showed a significantly worse condition compared with the control group. Comparison of the subgroups of epilepsy patients revealed that the most severe findings concern patients who have poorly controlled epilepsy, especially those who have frequent generalized tonic-clonic seizures.The observed difference probably results from a combination of factors such as the effect of the seizures themselves, socioeconomic conditions, and the negative attitude of dentists. We recommend that the planning of dental treatment of such patients should start with the assessment of their disease and determination of the "dental" subgroup to which they belong. For each subgroup, specific recommendations for interventions are given.