Clinical classification of 14-16-year-old Danish children according to functional status of the masticatory system

The high prevalence of functional disturbances in the masticatory system and the tendency to increasing severity with duration stresses the necessity for a reproducible index. Clinical examination of the masticatory system was performed in 14-16-yr-old children. The sequence of examination, TMJ-muscles-opening capacity was chosen in order to minimize the bias. For the same reason, information on symptoms and occlusal conditions was not available for the examiner. According to the amount and character of the signs of dysfunction, the children were classified into three groups. Both single traits of dysfunction and the classification of the subjects were tested for reproducibility. The reproducibility of the compound clinical index was high. The ability to differentiate between children with moderate/severe signs and without signs was higher but the highest value was reached when differentiation was made between children with no/moderate signs and children with severe signs.