Profiling of Patients Attending the Initial Dental Consultation at a Dental Clinic in Southern Italy: A Single-Centre Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

In Italy, access to public dental care is limited, and the characteristics of patients seeking hospital-based services are poorly described. A single-centre retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted, including all individuals attending their first appointment at the public Dental Clinic of Bari University Hospital (Southern Italy) between 1 January and 31 December 2023. Demographic and clinical variables, comorbidities, reasons for consultation, and travel distance from residence were retrieved from electronic records and analysed. Among 1361 patients (49% male; mean age 47.8 ± 23.3 years), most attended for oral surgery (35%) or oral pathology (17%), while other specialties accounted for the remaining visits. Many patients presented with multiple systemic conditions, particularly cardiovascular and metabolic diseases; however, a sizeable proportion were young, apparently healthy individuals who did not meet national eligibility criteria for publicly funded dental care. The dental clinic served a wide catchment area, including referrals from other regions. Documentation on education and behavioural risk factors was frequently incomplete. Overall, these findings show that complex oral medicine and oral surgery needs are concentrated in a small number of hospital clinics and support the expansion of Italian public dental services and improvements in routine data collection.