Study Finds Oral Palate Differences In Patients With Schizophrenia
Research from the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine and University of Maryland School of Dentistry indicates patients with deficit schizophrenia have a wider oral palate than individuals with other forms of the disease, as well as those without the disorder.
Research from the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine and University of Maryland School of Dentistry indicates patients with deficit schizophrenia have a wider oral palate than individuals with other forms of the disease, as well as those without the disorder. These findings may lead to a deeper understanding of the neuropsychiatric condition. The study, “An Early Developmental Marker of Deficit Versus Nondeficit Schizophrenia,” published in Schizophrenia Bulletin, suggests the developmental stages of patients with deficit schizophrenia begin to change from other groups with schizophrenia as early as the first trimester of pregnancy.
“These findings may lead to future research that could potentially reduce the number of individuals who experience this neuropsychiatric condition,” notes coauthor Gary Hack, DDS, an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. In comparing subjects with schizophrenia, wider palates were only observed in patients with deficit schizophrenia and not in controls or patients with nondeficit schizophrenia. The palate difference in the deficit patients may reflect abnormal brain development during the prenatal period, according to Hack.
Additionally, these physical orofacial differences in patients with schizophrenia suggest the whole-body model of this illness is the most appropriate model to use in treatment.
From Decisions in Dentistry. January 2020;6(1):8.
