Impact of clinical experience on the accuracy of probing depth measurements.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the influence of examiner experience on the variability of periodontal probing depth measurements obtained by conventional manual probing.


METHODS
Thirty subjects with a diagnosis of chronic periodontitis were evaluated by an experienced examiner using an electronic probe and randomly assigned to 3 groups. Examiners with different levels of experience (undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and associate professors) evaluated each group with a manual probe. Electronic and conventional probing were repeated 45 days after cause-related periodontal therapy.


RESULTS
A total of 8,127 periodontal sites were evaluated at the baseline examination and reassessment. Agreement between methods was satisfactory at the baseline examination (kappa = 0.45; P < .001) and reassessment (kappa = 0.42; P < .001). The best agreement between electronic and manual probing at the baseline examination was obtained by the postgraduate students (kappa = 0.66) and at reassessment by the associate professors (kappa = 0.60). Undergraduate students obtained the lowest agreement values in both examinations (kappa = 0.42 and 0.11, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Examiner experience has direct influence on the accuracy of measurements. Dental schools must evaluate if the methodology employed to teach the use of conventional manual probing is effectively qualifying their students for dental practice.
Seabra
Rodrigo Costa
RC
Department of Oral Surgery and Pathology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Costa
Fernando Oliveira
FO
Costa
José Eustáquio
JE
Van Dyke
Thomas
T
Soares
Rodrigo Villamarim
RV
D000328:Adult; D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000473:pathology; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003762:Dental Instruments; D005179:Faculty, Dental; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010517:Periodontics / Q000295:instrumentation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013335:Students, Dental; D055815:Young Adult