[Sociodental indicators in children and adolescents].

Sociodental indicators are measures for the psychological and social impact of dental diseases. They add the subjective views of patients to professionally defined clinical indices. The article describes the theoretical and empirical background for the development of those indicators and states which indicators have been used so far in Germany. Sociodental indicators may be used in oral health promotion for children and adolescents to assess their problems, to better understand their experiences and perceptions and to demonstrate the need for dental prevention to the public and financing institutions. The indicators are less suitable for planning purposes and for evaluating health promotion, because they represent effects which are too remote from the intervention itself and are influenced by too many co-factors. Finally, a conceptual framework for indicators of psychosocial impacts on children is presented.