The Sociodental Approach To Assess Dental Treatment Needs – A Review

Abstract

Health needs assessment is an important component in health care planning. It provides a platform to systemically assess unmet health and health care needs and to collect data required in improving health of the population. The traditional normative need approach for lacking in its objectivity and reliability, for ignoring the concept of quality of life and for disregarding scientific evidence, there is a need to develop appropriate measure of oral health needs which would incorporate the impact of ill-health on daily life, the degree of dysfunction it causes and the perceptions and attitudes of patients which would provide a better division of resources in providing care. This research highlights thesociodental approach, which is conceptually appropriate as it correspond to broader concepts of health and needs. This approach conforms to the modern, theoretical, multifactorial approach for the assessment of oral health care needs.

Validation of the Simplified Malaysian Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire for the Sociodental Approach to Estimate the Orthodontic Treatment Need

“…However, depending on normative need alone, which is an expert-defined need, is inadequate when the determinants for need and demand comprise measures of malocclusion and psychological and social factors [ 6 ]. A broader perspective of “need” known as the sociodental approach has been advocated for a more inclusive assessment of orthodontic treatment need [ 7 ].…”