Stomatological epidemiological studies are considered an important instrument to control pathological processes in the oral cavity. They are conducted according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and concern the condition of hard tooth tissues, oral cavity hygiene, gum health, prothetic elements, condition of temporomandibular joints, and malocclusions. To objectivize the obtained data, indicators of condition and treatment needs are used; they facilitate comparison and analysis of the results and allow to evaluate the health of oral cavity, to plan prevention and treatment and to assess the efficiency of programmes and methods.

The paper presents both indexes of dental caries used in the past, which at present are of historical value, and indexes currently used in clinical and epidemiological studies in large and small populations. Indexes used to assess the efficiency of preventive intercuspidal fissure sealing in lateral teeth of children and youth were discussed more thoroughly.

The analysis of global goals of the oral cavity health monitoring drew attention to the shift in caries distribution in the studied populations over the years. In this context, Bratthall proposed to use a new index: Significant Caries Index (SCI), which was presented in detail. Also, a three-level model of preventive action, according to Burt, which can be used to lower the SCI value, was described.