Measuring oral health: a conceptual framework
Locker, D.
Community Dental Health 5(1): 3-18
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0265-539X PMID: 3285972 Document Number: 4323
This paper has reviewed the concept of health used in dentistry and has been somewhat critical of its predominantly clinical focus. At the same time it has drawn attention to the limitations of the literature on socio-dental indicators which makes the case for a more comprehensive perspective. The main problem with this literature is that socio-dental indicators are currently too narrowly defined to capture the multidimensional nature of oral health and the many subtle social and psychological effects of oral disorders. An alternative and broader conceptual approach has been described which gives due attention to the socio-medical and biophysical issues involved in assessing health status. At the very least, the concepts defined here clarify the events which need to be measured in order to fully understand oral disorders and their outcomes. The need for measures and indicators applicable at the level of the individual and the society has been emphasized. The next step is to identify or develop appropriate measures and indicators, as comprehensive, sensitive and valid as these used in medicine, in order to quantify the extent of impairment, disability and handicap caused by oral disease. This will provide the basis for studies which explore the complex relationships between clinical conditions and their behavioural impacts.
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