Faculty versus Student Repeatability on Evaluating Translucency of the Anterior Dentition

Authors

James L. Sheets, Creighton UniversityFollow
David B. Marx, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Nina Ariani, Universitas IndonesiaFollow
Valentim A. R. Barão, University of CampinasFollow
Alvin G. Wee, University of MinnesotaFollow

ORCID IDs

James L. Sheets https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0682-1323

Nina Ariani https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3968-7052

Valentim A. R. Barão https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6391-9917

Alvin G. Wee https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3261-9740

Date of this Version

10-3-2021

Citation

Sheets, J.L.; Marx, D.B.; Ariani, N.; Barão, V.A.R.;Wee, A.G. Faculty versus Student Repeatability on Evaluating Translucency of the Anterior Dentition. Prosthesis 2021, 3, 331–341. https://doi.org/10.3390/ prosthesis3040030

Comments

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Abstract

The objective was to compare the repeatability between dental faculty, whose clinical practice was primarily restorative dentistry, and final year dental students in categorizing the inherent translucency of images selected at random using either a 3- or 7-point scale (translucent to opaque). Digital images of anterior dentition were randomly selected based on inherent translucency. Thirty images (five were repeated) were randomized and categorized by 20 dental students and 20 faculty on their inherent translucency. Statistical analysis was performed using an F test for analysis of variance at 95% confidence interval. A covariance parameter estimate (CPE) was accomplished to compare the inter-rater variability of the dental faculty and dental students. Statistically, more variability occurred between Slides (CPE of 0.185 (p = 0.001)) and between Subject and Slide (CPE of 0.122 (p = 0.0002)) than within subjects (CPE of 0.021 (p = 0.083)). Viewing repeat Slides, Students (CPE = 0.16) were more consistent (p < 0.05) than faculty (CPE = 1.8) using the 3- point scale, while the CPE was the same (CPE = 0.669) using 7-point scale. Dental students and faculty were consistent using the 7-point scale to judge repeat slides, while dental students in this limited pilot study were more consistent when viewing a repeat slide using the 3-point scale.