Can dental epidemiological information be gathered during routine dental examinations by general dental practitioners?

Objective: To assess the feasibility of gathering dental epidemiological information by General Dental Practitioners during routine dental examinations.

Design And Sample: Ten General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) and five Community Dental Officers (previously trained as dental examiners for epidemiological purposes) performed dental examinations of the same 10 volunteer adult patients in order to record decayed, missing and filled teeth.

Results: Agreement assessed by the kappa statistic showed that both the previously trained dental examiners and the GDPs assessed tooth conditions other than tooth decay consistently. Furthermore, all of the GDPs were within the range of findings of the previously trained dental examiners for missing teeth and total DMFT score. Eight of the 10 GDPs were within the range of findings for the previously trained dental examiners' assessments of which teeth were filled and seven were within the range for decayed teeth. However, the previously trained dental examiners were more consistent in classifying teeth as decayed than the GDPs.

Conclusion: Obtaining adult oral health data during elective dental consultations in General Dental Practice as a means to gather dental epidemiological information for adults is feasible.