Should only the first story arc be called true Dragon Ball?

[Rebel_Yeh]

So we know that when Akira Toriyama created Dr. Slump, it was supposed to be about the everyday life of a girl robot, so pretty much the whole series is true Dr. Slump.
Now, when Toriyama created Dragon Ball, it was supposed to be about the first time Goku and co. went searching for the dragon balls. Taking this into consideration, should only this first story arc about the first dragon ball search be considered true Dragon Ball, and the following story arcs be considered expanded universe material?

[BojGrass]

I don't think so. Other than a few times (tournaments in DB specifically), the Dragon Balls are what invoke Goku & company to go out on any given adventure. I could be wrong, but it's not until after the Frieza arc (as far as I can remember) that the Dragon Balls become more of just a tool to either revive one of the main cast or to revive everyone that the antagonist of the arc killed.

[Herms]

So we know that when Akira Toriyama created Dr. Slump, it was supposed to be about the everyday life of a girl robot, so pretty much the whole series is true Dr. Slump.

Actually, Toriyama's original idea was that the series would focus mainly on Senbei, hence the name "Dr. Slump". Going by that, virtually none of Dr. Slump counts as "true Dr. Slump" under your criteria.

Now, when Toriyama created Dragon Ball, it was supposed to be about the first time Goku and co. went searching for the dragon balls. Taking this into consideration, should only this first story arc about the first dragon ball search be considered true Dragon Ball, and the following story arcs be considered expanded universe material?

I'm really not sure what "true" is supposed to mean in this context.

[B]

It's a title, not a mandate. The Dragon Balls are key players from the first volume to the twenty-seventh. That's more than half of the series.

[Flame Dragon]

I don't think so. Other than a few times (tournaments in DB specifically), the Dragon Balls are what invoke Goku & company to go out on any given adventure. I could be wrong, but it's not until after the Freeza arc (as far as I can remember) that the Dragon Balls become more of just a tool to either revive one of the main cast or to revive everyone that the antagonist of the arc killed.

The Dragon Balls are integral part of the plot in the Freeza Saga.
The entire saga goal is to stop Freeza from becoming immortal.

It's from the Android Saga onwards that they become merely a resurrection device.