Validation of Self-reported Oral Health Items among Children

Objectives: In New Zealand, children with the highest levels of dental disease are from low socio-economic backgrounds and ethnic minority groups. Information on these groups has usually been obtained from clinical investigations, but because of increasing constraints on dental resources, the use of self-report methods has risen. Self-report items that capture a child’s dental care experience have not been reported, however. The aims of this study were to examine the clinical validity and reliability of dental self-report items for use with children. Methods: All 6-9-year-old children who attended three schools were invited to complete a dental self-report questionnaire, together with their care-givers. Children were then dentally examined. Results: Two hundred and four children (response rate 74.2 %) took part. The level of concordance between child and care-giver self-report was high, with Kappa values ranging from 0.61 to 0.96. The prevalence of dental caries in the deciduous dentition was 67.6 percent. The mean dfs, mean DFS and mean number of missing deciduous teeth due to caries were 6.15 (sd, 6.51), 0.83 (sd, 1.28) and 0.30 (sd, 0.82) respectively. Children who reported their oral self-care as poor, who had experienced dental fillings and extractions, or whose dental problems had impacted on their quality of life had consistently higher caries prevalence and severity than those with more favourable self-reported oral care habits and dental experience. Conclusions: The dental self-report items were clinically valid and reliable when tested on a child population. The findings offer some support for the use of dental self-report measures for children in future epidemiological investigations. This, in turn, may help provide information necessary for the co-ordination, testing and monitoring of effective oral health preventive programs, particularly for high-risk groups.