Sensitivity and specificity of an index of oral hygiene community use in relation to three indexes commonly used in measuring dental plaque

Abstract

Introduction: Indexes of oral hygiene and dental plaque measurements have been developed since the 1960s in assessing an individual's oral hygiene, and to evaluate the effectiveness of programs to promote oral health and to measure the effectiveness of therapeutic methods. The Dental School at Universidad del Valle and the Pacífico Siglo XXI research team have developed an oral hygiene index for community use and evaluate its sensitivity and specificity versus three other indexes used in studies worldwide.

Methodology: A group of seven students in their fifth year of dentistry were standardized for the registration of pattern indexes (gold standard), the O´Leary index, detritus index by Greene & Vermillion index, Silness & Löe index, and the oral hygiene index for community use (CPI) achieving a match with Kappa values from 0.83, 0.81, 0.71, 0.94, and 0.86, respectively. A total of 83 fifth grade, primary school children were examined with parental consent; the data was recorded and taken to a database that was processed with a SSPS version 17 program.

Results: The plaque rate in the children evaluated was 80%. No significant differences were found between the gold standard, the O´leary index, and the oral hygiene index for community use. The sensitivity of the indices evaluated was: 96.8 (95% CI 95.5-97.9) for the O'Leary index; 95.1 (95% CI 92.5-97.4) for the CPI; 75.2 (95% CI: 73.1-77.1) Greene & Vermillion detritus index, and 69.5 (95% CI 66-73) for the Silness & Löe index. The average specificity of 75 had no significant differences among the indexes.

Conclusions: The Silness & Löe and Greene & Vermillion indexes are less sensitive with significant differences in relation to the O´Leary index and the plaque community index.