Utility of the Dental Aesthetic Index in Industrialized and Developing Countries

Abstract

To be truly useful, an index must be applicable universally without modification. The data presented in this article support the use of the standard DAI without modification to assess need for orthodontic treatment in both developing and industrialized countries. When students from Thailand, Australia, the German Democratic Republic, and Native Americans residing on Indian reservations rated the same 25 occlusal stimuli (photographs of dental configurations) for dental aesthetics, their ratings of these stimuli when arranged in rank order were highly correlated with those of US students. These 25 occlusal stimuli were a subset of the original 200 occlusal stimuli used in deriving the standard DAI regression equation. This article presents data indicating that when a Native American DAI was derived based on Native American ratings of the same 200 occlusal stimuli used in deriving the standard DAI, the Native American DAI and the standard DAI had the same ten components (orthodontic measurements) and strikingly similar regression coefficients (weights). Further analysis indicated that the two equations were sufficiently similar to justify using the standard DAI to obtain DAI scores on Native Americans and to estimate the relative social acceptability of their dental aesthetics. If ratings for dental aesthetics for the full set of 200 stimuli were available for each of the countries where only 25 were rated, we expect that, as in the case of Native Americans, a country-specific DAI, if computed, would be sufficiently similar to the standard DAI that no modification would be needed to allow use of the standard DAI in that country.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Occlusal characteristics and orthodontic treatment need in black adolescents in Salvador/BA (Brazil): an epidemiologic study using the Dental Aesthetics Index

“…20 Nevertheless, DAI is a product of extensive statistical tests and can be considered a good assessment tool to measure severity and need for orthodontic treatment also in Brazil, according to studies of consistency analysis by Cunha. 9 In other words, it is considered a transcultural index, as it summarizes patterns of dental esthetics which are socially defined in the features it evaluates, 7 besides providing more clinical information than other indices, not underestimating the severity of malocclusion and allowing greater category flexibility to classify the individual. The present study was conducted in the city of Salvador, in Northeastern Brazil, a city in lack of orthodontic treatment offer in the public sector, where resources are insufficient to meet the population in need of treatment.…”

“…The first sub-category within each component characterizes a condition of normal occlusion. 7 Dental crowding is one of the occlusal characteristics that most appear (67.5%) in the group with high need for orthodontic treatment, and their presence increases with age. However, this was the only homogeneous condition in different degrees of severity.…”

“…6,7,10,13,23,27 All of these indices compile a set of data about malocclusion and expose a final numeric or alphanumeric value that can classify the occlusal situation at a level of severity and of treatment indication.…”

Aspectos metodológicos do Projeto SBBrasil 2010 de interesse para inquéritos nacionais de saúde

“…Em sua quarta edição, o manual da OMS propôs um novo índice de avaliação de oclusopatias, proposto anos antes por Cons et al 16 , chamado DAI (Índice de Estética Dental -sigla derivada da expressão inglesa Dental Aesthetic Index). O princípio básico do DAI é de uma combinação de medidas (não somente de problemas oclusais) as quais, em seu conjunto, expressam o estado oclusal do indivíduo e, con-sequentemente, sua necessidade de tratamento, devido à composição do índice que considera comprometimento estético além da oclusão.…”

Occlusal features and need for orthodontic treatment in persons with osteogenesis imperfecta

“…The DHC‐IOTN classifies malocclusions according to the presence of particular occlusal features, considered necessary to identify individuals who would benefit most from the orthodontic treatment. Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) is recommended by World Health Organization to establish the orthodontic treatment need, based on total score of assessment of ten occlusal features (Cons, Jenny, Kohout, Songpaisan, & Jotikastira, 1989). Both DHC‐IOTN and DAI are widely applied in epidemiologic studies.…”