A METHOD FOR DETERMINING PATIENT ORAL CARE SKILLS - THE UNIVERSITY-OF-MISSISSIPPI ORAL HYGIENE INDEX

THE PLAQUE CONTROL RECORD (O'Leary index) appears to be a commonly use d oral hygiene index for assessing oral health skills. This index prov ides sufficient information for patient education; however, the time i nvolved in data collection reduces its value. Most other indices limit the number of teeth and surfaces and function well for researchers, b ut are Limited for patient education. A new oral hygiene index was dev eloped based on the concepts of the Periodontal Screening and Recordin g (PSR). The highest score obtained in each buccal and lingual sextant is recorded. In addition, proximal and gingival plaque are noted sepa rately. This study assesses the index for inter- and intrarater reliab ility and validity. Two calibrated hygienists examined 47 patients 3 t imes. The University of Mississippi Oral Hygiene Index (UM-OHI) was re corded for times 1 and 3, the O'Leary for time 2. There was a strong p ositive correlation between scores obtained for both hygienists for ea ch method and repetition. The intrarater reliability was high for the 2 methods and also over time for the UM-OHI. Pearson's correlation coe fficients ranged from 0.79 to 0.92. Paired t-tests used to compare sco res for the 2 hygienists over time showed significant differences. Des pite observer bias, these data seem to indicate that the UM-OHI has su fficient reliability and validity to be used as a health education tea ching tool.