Validation of self-reported history of root canal treatment in a southern Brazilian subpopulation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess self-reported history of root canal treatment (SRHRCT) as a method for detecting the presence of root canal treatment (RCT) and apical periodontitis (AP) in a southern Brazilian subpopulation. In this cross-sectional study, 136 military police officers from the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, were included. The participants were interviewed and full-mouth periapical radiographs were taken. A calibrated examiner determined the presence of RCT and AP by applying standardized criteria. The diagnostic accuracy of SRHRCT was calculated separately for RCT and AP. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (+PV and-PV), efficiency, and positive and negative likelihood ratios (+LR and-LR) were estimated. The mean age of the participants was 34.1 ± 10.4 years and 88.2% were males. Overall, SRHRCT demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for RCT, but not for AP: sensitivity (RCT = 0.960, AP = 0.757) and specificity (RCT = 0.835, AP = 0.631). The estimated values for PV and LR were: +PV (RCT=0.777, AP=0.396),-PV (RCT = 0.972, AP = 0.890), +LR (RCT = 5.853, AP = 2.057), and-LR (RCT = 0.046, AP = 0.383). SRHRCT proved to be a good predictor of the presence of RCT, but a weak predictor of AP in this subpopulation.

The global prevalence of apical periodontitis: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…2012, Franciscatto et al . 2019). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been shown to be a promising nonionizing method to detect AP, but coils to apply in tooth‐based protocols have not been developed (Di Nardo et al .…”

Association between pulp and periapical conditions and dental emergency visits involving pain relief: epidemiological profile and risk indicators in private practice in Australia

“…Conversely, chronic apical periodontitis is asymptomatic in the vast majority of cases and may present as a primary lesion or a persistent infection following root canal treatment (Nair 2006). The latter, being a silent disease, patients are generally not aware of the condition, which becomes obvious with an exacerbation of the process, or when a lesion is detected radiographically (Franciscatto et al 2019). Therefore, chronic apical periodontitis should not be expected to be associated with DEV.…”

Development and Initial Validation of the Oral Health Activities Questionnaire

“…A review of the literature on the validity of self-reported oral health measures revealed that the findings are somewhat contradictory and differ in terms of variables used in individual studies. Findings that indicate that such measures have poor validity mainly relate to the variables that measure assessment of dental caries [35], specific periodontal variables [35][36][37], and normative dental treatment needs [38]. However, there is evidence that self-reported oral health status measures accurately provide number of teeth [35,36,[39][40][41][42][43], presence of fillings [35], use of dental prosthesis [36], periodontal disease [39,[44][45][46], orofacial pain [47], root canal treatment (RCT) [35,37], and orthodontic and endodontic needs [38].…”

“…Findings that indicate that such measures have poor validity mainly relate to the variables that measure assessment of dental caries [35], specific periodontal variables [35][36][37], and normative dental treatment needs [38]. However, there is evidence that self-reported oral health status measures accurately provide number of teeth [35,36,[39][40][41][42][43], presence of fillings [35], use of dental prosthesis [36], periodontal disease [39,[44][45][46], orofacial pain [47], root canal treatment (RCT) [35,37], and orthodontic and endodontic needs [38]. These validity-supporting authors also stated the following reasons and benefits for using self-reported oral health measures: for great cost and time savings [35,46], as a valid method to determine the number of teeth in national health surveys [39], as accurate diagnostics for predicting orthodontic and endodontic needs [38], as a valid reflection of the clinical status [40], as a valuable tool for epidemiological studies and surveillance of periodontal health in the adult population [36,45], and as possible guidance for people in making improvements in their lifestyle [48].…”