title: Clinical instruments and methods for assessing physical oral health: A systematic review.
abstract: This study aimed at exploring available clinical instruments and methods for assessing physical oral health, and at identifying those with sufficient diagnostic performance.
  
  
  
  A systematic literature search was conducted in Embase and MEDLINE. Identified instruments and methods were critically appraised, and quality of diagnostic performance was rated by two independent reviewers as A (sufficient diagnostic performance), B (either sufficient reliability or validity) or C (insufficient quality, or empirical results unsatisfactory and/or inconsistent). For all A-rated instruments and methods, an in-depth literature search was conducted to supplement and verify their effectiveness and accuracy.
  
  
  
  A total of 141 instruments and methods were identified. Only 12 methods with sufficient diagnostic performance could be rated as A, 72 were rated as B, and 34 received a C-rating. Further 23 instruments and methods could not be rated due to lack of available information on diagnostic performance. Of all A-rated instruments, six were designed for tooth structure, two for periodontium, one for endodontium and three for temporomandibular joints and muscles.
  
  
  
  Even though some instruments and methods exhibited good to excellent reliability and validity and can be recommended for research and clinical practice, they do not allow assessing all components of physical oral health. There is a need to identify and define standard instruments, and for components of physical oral health where methods with sufficient diagnostic performance are lacking, further research is required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.|Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: L-K
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4344-1741
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Pauli
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aarabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kriston
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Heydecke
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.|Department of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Reissmann
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009909:Oral Health; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis
keywords: dentistry; diagnostic accuracy; diagnostic performance; systematic review