Faculty Collaboration Database

Evaluating the merits of option-3 methods in relative attachment level measurement in a healthy population. J Periodontal Res 1997 Feb;32(2):256-63

Date

02/01/1997

Pubmed ID

9089493

DOI

10.1111/j.1600-0765.1997.tb00532.x

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0031062440 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   10 Citations

Abstract

Attachment loss is the principal clinical indicator for periodontal disease progression. However, the attachment measurement can be inaccurate due to outliers. A remedial scheme, the option-3 scheme, has been suggested in the literature. This scheme involves first measuring the relative attachment twice at any given site. A third measurement is required if there is a large disagreement between the first two probings. When the third measurement is taken, there are several possible ways to make the final assessment of the true attachment level. Among them are the average of the 3 measurements, the average of the closest 2, and the median of the 3. This report evaluates the merits of the option-3 scheme by comparing it with other schemes to reduce measurements variance and outliers. Since true attachment levels are unknown, we chose to check accuracy through measurement consistency between visits in healthy subjects using the fact that such subjects should have little real change in attachment levels. 12 healthy subjects participated in the study. They visited the clinic 4 times in 4 months. Two types of the Florida stent probe were used by 2 calibrated examiners. It was found that option-3 schemes were more accurate than a single probing or duplicate probings in estimating the relative attachment level. The 3 final assessment schemes performed almost equally well from a practical standpoint, but the median was the best among them in a statistical sense.

Author List

Johnson P, Yang MC, Magnusson I, Kang T, Ramirez J, Hefti AF

Author

Arthur Hefti DDS,PhD Associate Dean - Research & Graduate Studies in the Dentistry department at Marquette University

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Algorithms
Analysis of Variance
Disease Progression
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Female
Humans
Male
Observer Variation
Periodontal Attachment Loss
Periodontal Diseases
Periodontics
Periodontium
Time Factors