Changes in Disease Patterns and Their Measures: A Case Study in Dental Health

Measuring success in health is complex. We look for one-line answers, but reality is not so simple. We are accustomed to using population-level yardsticks such as total coverage, average patient attendance, and analogous single number outcomes. In dentistry, we regularly see similar single parameters of effectiveness such as average levels of decay; but are they the right measures for today? Historically, much of society suffered from conditions such as dental decay. Today’s disease patterns have shifted, affecting smaller sub-groups within society; therefore, our former global measures may now be misleading. For example, the first people of Australia, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, suffer decay rates resulting in hospitalisation at rates 2-5 times higher than the rest of the population.1