Validation of indices for functional assessment of dentures.
OBJECTIVE
To validate an assessment of qualities of complete dentures that may relate to functional success.


METHODS
A consecutive sample of 131 complete denture wearers took part in the study.


METHODS
a Greek department of prosthetic dentistry.


METHODS
All participants and their dentures underwent clinical examination.


METHODS
The Functional Assessment of Dentures (FAD) 10-item criteria' describing clinical factors of denture quality was used. The rationale for selecting these particular criteria was to include a range of clinical factors to produce an overall assessment of complete dentures. The 10-item scale was examined for Internal Consistency and Construct Validity providing a summated rating scale whose total score could be used as an index for the quality of dentures.


RESULTS
Both intra- and inter-examiner agreement for all 10 dichotomous scale criteria were all good or very good; the intra-examiner Kappa values were 0.72 to 0.91 and the inter- examiner values were 0.72 to 0.99. Statistical analysis revealed that a 7-item summated rating scale could be constructed which has marginally better internal consistency (reliability) and Construct Validity with fewer questions.


CONCLUSIONS
The FAD criteria' can be used to give good repeatability. The adjustments made to the original summation scale, if confirmed by new studies, would further increase the practical utility of a FAD index for general dentists. In due course with data from future studies, discrimination on weighting of items will be appropriate to relate the impact of denture quality on quality of life.
Anastassiadou
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Department of Removable Prosthodontics, Dental School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. vanasta@dent.auth.gr
Naka
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Heath
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MR
Kapari
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D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003766:Dental Occlusion; D003781:Denture Retention; D003824:Denture, Complete / Q000592:standards; D003826:Denture, Complete, Lower; D003827:Denture, Complete, Upper; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014716:Vertical Dimension