The reproducibility of the Denplan Oral Health Score (OHS') in general dental practitioners

Objective: To assess the reproducibility of the Denplan Oral Health Score (OHS (R)) and to examine whether general dental practitioners are more reproducible at measuring oral health when they use the OHS than when they use their usual method of examining patients. Design: This was a single centre study designed to compare dentists' reproducibility using the Oral Health Score with their reproducibility when using the method of examination that they normally employ in general practice. Setting. The study was carried out at The University of Birmingham School of Dentistry during 2001. PatWcipams: Ten local general dental practitioners were recruited by advertising. The patients were selected from various clinics in the University of Birmingham School of Dentistry to provide a broad spectrum of oral health. Main Outcome Measures: The dentists scored oral health by two methods; firstly on a 10 cm linear scale after using their everyday method of examination and secondly using the structured format of the OHS examination, where the Oral Health Scores were expressed as a percentage. Results: Overall, the majority of the participating dentists demonstrated better intra-examiner reproducibility with the OHS than with their own method of examination. There was also higher inter-examiner reproducibility with the OHS than with the dentists' own method.