Quality assessment of restorations in a population of school children.

An index to measure quality of dental restorative care was devised and utilized on a population of 838 Caucasian school children in a large midwestern city. Quality was measured using a four-point scale. All restorations present were considered as part of the entire mouth. Quality was tested in relation to socioeconomic status. Based on this index the problem of poor quality dental restorations is significant and not necessarily related to socioeconomic status as represented by income or education. Evidence of high quality dentistry as evidenced by stainless steel crowns, space maintainers, and orthodontic appliances was limited to children whose families reported incomes over $6,000. Further use of this quality index is recommended to improve and refine measurements in the area of dental care.