Oral Hygiene Skill Achievement Index II

Area of Science:

• Dental hygiene
• Health sciences
• Medical education

Background:

• Assessing oral hygiene skills is crucial for effective dental care.
• Existing assessment tools may lack comprehensive validity, reliability, or administrative feasibility.
• A standardized index is needed to objectively measure oral hygiene proficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the validity, reliability, and administrative feasibility of the Oral Hygiene Skill Achievement Index (S.A.I.).
• To determine if the S.A.I. is a suitable instrument for assessing dental hygienists' oral hygiene skills.

Main Methods:

• The S.A.I. was administered to registered dental hygienists.
• Validity was assessed by the high scores achieved by experts (>90%).
• Reliability was measured through initial and repeat testing (r ≥ 0.91 and r ≥ 0.96, respectively).
• Administrative feasibility was determined by time required for administration, teaching, and learning.

Main Results:

• The S.A.I. demonstrated high validity, with dental hygienists scoring over 90% of possible points.
• Excellent initial reliability (r ≥ 0.91) and repeat reliability (r ≥ 0.96) were established.
• The S.A.I. is administratively feasible, requiring under 10 minutes for administration, 40 minutes for teaching, and 1 hour 40 minutes for learning.

Conclusions:

• The Oral Hygiene Skill Achievement Index (S.A.I.) is a valid and reliable measure of oral hygiene skills.
• Its administrative feasibility makes it a practical tool for both clinical practice and research.
• The S.A.I. is recommended for use in dental hygiene education and professional assessment.