Consistency of orthodontic treatment planning decisions.
OBJECTIVE
(i) To analyse the consistency of a group of orthodontists' treatment decisions and (ii) to identify factors that may influence this consistency.


METHODS
Cross-sectional observational study.


METHODS
Ten orthodontists.


METHODS
The orthodontists examined 60 case vignettes and recorded their treatment decisions on two separate occasions.


METHODS
Inter- and intra-examiner agreement was evaluated with the Kappa statistic.


RESULTS
The consistency within each orthodontist was moderate. However, between-orthodontist consistency was poor.


CONCLUSIONS
It appears that there is marked variation between orthodontists in treatment planning decisions and this may reflect the lack of evidence for the effectiveness of competing treatments.
Lee
R
R
Department of Dental Medicine and Surgery, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, UK.
MacFarlane
T
T
O'Brien
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002508:Cephalometry; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D003765:Models, Dental; D015588:Observer Variation; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D023861:Photography, Dental; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic