Health Outcomes Reported by Dental Patients

Abstract

To assess the impact of care on patients, patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are essential because they characterize patients' suffering. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are the instruments to assess PROs. Any report of the patient's oral health condition that comes directly from the patient is a dental patient-reported outcome (dPRO). Similar to oral health being a component of health in general, dPROs are a part of PROs. dPROs target four major areas of patients' suffering because dental patients typically seek care to improve oral function and orofacial appearance as well as to decrease pain and psychosocial impact related to oral conditions. dPROs capture what matters to dental patients. They characterize the specific influences of oral health on patients' lives. Dental patient-reported outcome measures (dPROMs) capture this influence and express it numerically in a score. Consequently, dPROs in general and Oral Function, Orofacial Appearance, Orofacial Pain, as well as Psychosocial Impact (related to oral conditions) in particular are the major targets for dental interventions in clinical practice as well as for oral health research.

Keywords: Oral health-related quality of life; Patient-reported outcome measures; Patient-reported outcomes; Perceived oral health; Self-reported oral health; dental patients.