Dentist reliability in classifying disease risk and reason for treatment

Objectives: The reliability of practicing dentists' classifications of: pat ients' caries risk and periodontal disease risk and reason for treatment fo r individual teeth were determined, The risk classification protocols had b een in use in a group practice for more than a year, and the reason-for-tre atment protocol had been introduced six months previously. Methods: Eight d entists' classifications for caries (n=66) and periodontal disease risk (n= 66), and six dentists' classifications for reason for treatment (n=73) were compared to those of a nominal standard examiner. Reliability was expresse d as percent agreement and kappa values. Results: Percent agreement was 76 percent, 83 percent, and 74 percent for caries, periodontal disease, and re ason for treatment, respectively, with kappa values of 0.56, 0.70, and 0.60 . Conclusions: Dentists can attain reasonable levels of reliability using s imple classification protocols with little formal training, although miscla ssification may be problematic for specific administrative or research-rela ted purposes.