The increasing burden of mental illness is a major public health challenge globally. Striking health and social inequalities exist between people with mental illness and the rest of the population. People with severe mental disorders have significantly higher rates of physical co-morbidity (e.g. diabetes and cardiovascular disease), which in turn lead to higher rates of mortality from preventable physical ill health. Reducing this physical co-morbidity is key to support recovery from mental illness, and reduce inequalities. Yet, despite being a vital part of physical health, little attention has been given to the significant burden of oral diseases that people with mental illness bear. Given the bidirectional relationship between oral health and mental health, neglecting this oral disease burden would hinder recovery from mental illness.

The aim of this symposium is to present recent research on the (i) physical, psychosocial, and economic impacts of oral health inequalities amongst people with mental illness; (ii) evidence syntheses of interventions to improve oral health amongst this group of people; (iii) theory of multilevel enablers of dental care utilisation amongst people with mental illness; and (iv) setting patient-centred research priorities to close the gap. Additionally, this symposium will call for a wider international multidisciplinary collaboration hosted by an IADR forum where research, good practice and learning about oral and mental health are shared.