The perception of oral condition is an important health indicator as it synthesizes the condition of objective health, subjective answers, cultural values and expectative. The study evaluated the importance of oral health according to the perception of inpatients of a hospital unit at Araçatuba city, São Paulo State. A partially structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The program Epi Info 2000 was used to statistics analysis. The results show that half of patients affirmed that visited a dental surgeon on a period between 6 and 12 months due to periodontal problems (35%) and dental caries (20%). It was observed that although all patients consider to have a good oral hygiene, the periodontal treatment was identified like the more necessary among them (67.93%). The presence of a dental surgeon at the hospital clinical group was considered by all the patients essential to collaborate with the integral care of health of inpatients. About the role of dental surgeon in a hospital, the majority of patients (90.63%) affirmed to be the act of "caring on the teeth". So, it is possible to conclude that all the patients know the importance of the maintenance of oral health appropriated conditions specially of inpatients.