Dental Hygiene Faculty Calibration Using Two Accepted Standards for Calculus Detection: A Pilot Study.

Area of Science:

• Dental Hygiene
• Periodontology
• Clinical Education

Background:

• Faculty calibration is crucial for consistent examiner evaluation in dental hygiene.
• Two standards exist for calculus detection: Central Regional Dental Testing Service (CRDTS) and root roughness (gold standard for scaling/root debridement).
• Nonsurgical periodontal treatment relies solely on scaling/root debridement or planing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of faculty calibration for calculus detection using two distinct standards.
• To compare interrater reliability before and after training using CRDTS and root roughness criteria.

Main Methods:

• A pretest-posttest design was employed with four dental hygiene faculty participants.
• Participants evaluated calculus on 64 tooth surfaces across four patients.
• Kappa statistics were calculated to measure interrater reliability for both CRDTS and root roughness standards before and after training.

Main Results:

• Kappa scores for the CRDTS standard improved from moderate (0.561) to substantial agreement (0.631) post-training.
• Kappa scores for the root roughness standard showed minimal improvement, remaining low (0.152 pretest, 0.271 posttest).
• While CRDTS training showed improvement, the change in Kappa scores was not statistically significant (p=0.778).

Conclusions:

• Faculty calibration for calculus detection is feasible using the CRDTS standard, achieving substantial interrater reliability.
• The root roughness standard proved more challenging for achieving reliable faculty calibration.
• Further research with multiple training sessions and consistent use of the root debridement standard is recommended.