Glossary

Dental implants can help improve the quality of life of patients in a number of different ways. Patients will not only have an improved appearance, but they will also have improved function, meaning that eating, biting, and chewing will be easier. Although the dental implant process can be a long one, especially when bone grafting is involved, the improvement of quality of life is well worth it, especially for a permanent solution. There are different factors that are considered when gauging quality of life, such as the education factor, the spiritual factor, the family factor, the stress factor, the psychological factor, the work factor, and the health and safety factor. Dental implants naturally fall under the health and safety factor, but they can also fall under psychological and work. Self-esteem, relationships, and job opportunities can be affected by missing teeth in need of a dental implant.

The definition of the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) is the measure of the quality of life or well-being of a country. The value is the average of three statistics: basic literacy rate, infant mortality, and life expectancy at age one. These statistics are all equally weighted on a 0 to 100 scale, as used in the dental literature. Quality of life indexes can be presented by country, by state, or by city. The index provides an overall look at the health and literacy of a country, state, or city and can be used to identify areas of the index that should be improved. It can also help measure the success of improvements that are already in place. The 2019 quality of life index will show the rankings of each country, state, or city and may further break down certain aspects of the quality of life of each for an expanded view.