Design of a socio-ecologic caries model and testing on 50-year-old citizens of Oslo, Norway.

The purpose of the present study was to design a socio-ecologic caries model based on a general health model and to test the fit of data collected from a random sample of 200 50-year-old Oslo citizens to this designed model. The intention was also to investigate the relative importance of the four items environmental, behavioral, human biology, and health care organization factors. The dependent variable, number of carious surfaces, was recorded clinically and radiologically. The mean number of carious surfaces was 3.0 (SD, 3.5), with a range from 0 to 17, and the four items explained 5%, 25%, 28%, and 13% of the variance in number of carious surfaces, respectively. The complete model explained 42%, whereas traditionally used variables on the basis of the Keyes triad explained only 22% of the variance. The findings from the present study indicate that dental caries is a multifactorial disease with both behavioral and biologic determinants, and the socio-ecologic caries model represents a relevant supplement to the Keyes triad.