Toward the formulation of sociodental indicators

Sociomedical health indicators for oral health may be discussed in terms of the following referents: status of oral health, and delivery of services related to oral health. Some oral conditions, such as dental caries, are easier to measure and provide more knowledge of past treatment than other conditions, such as herpes simplex, canker sores, or periodontal disease. This chapter describes existing oral status indexes and their uses. With the possible exception of indexes of occlusal traits, all of the indexes are morbidity indexes or describe conditions which precede morbidity. Three measures have been described which attempt to deal with the general concept of dental health. These are: the Index of Dental Need; the Oral Health Grading; and the National Dental Health Index. Periodontal disease involves three processes which are usually sequentially related although not necessarily so. These are inflammation of the gums, formation of pockets beneath the gingival margin, and loss of alveolar bone surrounding the roots of the teeth