Perceived dental care need and actual oral health status in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL).

In bivariate analysis, self-reported type of dental care needed appear indicative of actual oral disease state and may be of value for the surveillance of oral diseases when clinical measures are unattainable. In multivariable prediction modeling, these subjective measures had low PPVs thus limiting the generalizability of our findings. Nonetheless, validation and refinement of these constructs in other populations is warranted.