RESUMO
Policymakers face the problem that virtually no standards are available to judge whether the amount of dental care provided is satisfactory or to weight the interests of dental care against other health and economic interests. It is suggested that international comparison of a number of standardized indicators and analyses of their development over time constitutes a practical approach to the partial solution of these problems. A specific set of basic data and seven indicators are suggested. Of the indicators, two serve as measures for the total volume of dental care available to the individual, two could help to assess the productivity of dental care workers, and three are intended to put the expenditures for dental care in the perspective of health care expenditures in general and the national economy at large. The practicality of the approach is subsequently demonstrated by the comparison of the basic data and the indicators for the Netherlands and the USA over the period 1972 through 1979.
