title: Reproducibility of characteristics assessing the occlusion of young adults.
abstract: The aim of the present investigation was to analyze the reproducibility in the assessment of six morphological and three functional characteristics included in a new method evaluating the occlusion in young adults. These characteristics comprised coincidence of midlines, overjet, overbite, canine relationship, crossbite, scissors bite, recurrent deviation on opening, guided lateral excursions, and discrepancy between the centric relation and the intercuspal position. The study was conducted in three stages: (1) five observers assessed the occlusions of five volunteers, (2) seven observers assessed nine volunteers, and (3) five observers assessed nine volunteers. Two calibrated orthodontists were used as references. For numerical variables, the nonparametric method for repeated measurements (Friedman's test) was used to test the significance of differences, while the proportion of agreement was calculated for categorical assessments. The results were analyzed using two precision levels: within a measurement unit/the same category and an acceptable/nonacceptable dichotomy. The magnitude of systematic differences was small and of minor clinical importance except in measurements of recurrent deviation on opening. The proportional agreement for acceptance was good in the assessment of overjet, coincidence of midlines, crossbite, scissors bite, open bite, and discrepancy between the centric relation and the intercuspal position. Moderate agreement was achieved in the assessment of overbite, canine relationship, recurrent deviation on opening, and guided lateral excursions. Among the nonacceptable cases, the agreement ranged from poor to good. The results indicated that noncalibrated observers assess categorical characteristics inconsistently.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Development and Orthodontics, Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku, Finland. anlisve@utu.fi
authors.forename: Anna-Lilsa
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Svedström-Oristo
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Helenius
authors.forename: Terttu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pietilä
authors.forename: Ilpo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pietilä
authors.forename: Pentti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alanen
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Varrela
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001641:Bicuspid / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002138:Calibration; D016302:Centric Relation; D003481:Cuspid / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D003724:Dental Arch / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D003766:Dental Occlusion; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology; D008334:Mandible / Q000473:pathology; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D015588:Observer Variation; D024343:Open Bite / Q000473:pathology; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric