Correlation between the modified Huddart and Bodenham index and the GOSLON yardstick for assessing occlusal characteristics at 5 and 10 years of age in individuals born with unilateral cleft lip and palate

The Great Ormond Street, London and Oslo, Norway (GOSLON) yardstick and the modified Huddart and Bodenham (MHB) index are two indices for evaluating study models to discern the effects of treatment in individuals born with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). GOSLON is a tool for ranking study models based on their sagittal, vertical, and transversal planes that requires calibration of the examiners. MHB is a tool for scoring the arch constriction between the jaws for each tooth pair, with scores ranging from +1 to -3. Our study aimed to identify the degree of correlation between the GOSLON and MHB indices and to compare inter- and intra-examiner reliability. The study scored 107 study models of 76 children aged 5 (n = 50) and 10 (n = 57) years using the MHB and GOSLON indices. We found a very high intra- and inter-examiner reliability (> 0.90) for the MHB and the GOSLON indices as well as a moderate to high negative correlation between the two. Among 5-year-olds, the relationship between the MHB and the GOSLON was linear, while among 10-year-olds, GOSLON Groups 2 and 4 occurred most frequently, with a corresponding wide range in MHB. Standardization of maxillary arch constriction measurements following CLP treatment would help evaluation of treatment outcome and make comparability between studies possible. We found a moderate to high correlation between GOSLON and MHB. Both indices showed very good intra- and inter-examiner reliability. MHB is a more sensitive system compared to GOSLON, with a greater range of scoring (40 grades) than GOSLON (five categories).