Professional toothbrushing as a method for diagnosing gingivitis in 3- to 6-year-old preschool children.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the present crossover study was to evaluate professional toothbrushing as a method for diagnosing gingivitis in children.


METHODS
Thirty-four preschool children who had gingival bleeding > or = 10% and without proximal restorations/carious lesions were included in the study. Examinations comprised two gingival indices recorded at a 15-min interval, in the following sequences: the Ainamo and Bay gingival bleeding index (GBI1) followed by the brushing index (BI2) and vice versa (BI1-GBI2). Half of the children started the study in the first sequence and the other half in the second. After a 3- to 4-day washout period, the indices were again recorded with individuals changing the sequences. Data analysis considered GBI as the gold standard, and sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were also calculated.


RESULTS
The overall mean value of gingival bleeding at the first examination was 18.85 +/- 9.24%. Validation of toothbrushing performed after GBI (BI2) resulted in values for SE, SP, PPV and NPV of 0.59 (95% CI, 0.55 to 0.63), 0.92 (95% CI, 0.91 to 0.93), 0.64 (95% CI, 0.60 to 0.69) and 0.90 (95% CI, 0.89 to 0.92), respectively. BI performed before GBI (BI1) resulted in similar SE, SP, PPV and NPV. Percentage agreement of GBI1-BI2 and BI1-GBI2 was 83.5% and 85.9%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Professional toothbrushing can be suggested as a method for the diagnosis of gingival inflammatory status in children, especially as an indicator of gingival health.
Mariath
Adriela Azevedo Souza
AA
Department of Pediatric Dentisty, Federal University of Rio Grande de Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Haas
Alex Nogueira
AN
Fischer
Cláudia Martinewski
CM
de Araujo
Fernando Borba
FB
Rösing
Cassiano Kuchenbecker
CK
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D010512:Periodontal Index; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000379:methods*