Validity of Self-perceived and Clinically Diagnosed Gingival Status among 12–15-year-old Children in Indonesia

Abstract

A few studies have revealed the self-perceived gingival status using questionnaires among children. Perceived health is a crucial factor that has an impact on quality of life. The objective of the study was to assess self-perceived and clinically diagnosed gingival status among children in Indonesia. This was a cross-sectional study of 494 schoolchildren (aged 12–15 years). Periodontal status was recorded using the gingival index (GI) and plaque index (PI) based on the World Health Organization standards. Data were collected through a brief visual, non-invasive clinical oral examination and a self-administered questionnaire. The sensitivity and specificity of self-perceived assessment were calculated using normative assessment as the gold standard. This study showed that self-perceived need for dental treatment showed the highest sensitivity (86% using PI and 85% using GI) and self-perceived swollen gums showed the highest specificity (89% using PI and 88% using GI) for clinically diagnosed plaque (PI cut-off value: 0.74) and gingival problems (GI cut-off value: 0.51). In conclusion, both self-perceived variables showed significant discordance between their respective sensitivity and specificity. Self-perceived information is at a higher-level unawareness that does not reflect the current gingival status. Thus, public health strategies are needed to improve the awareness of better oral health among children by promoting, empowering, and advocating.

Validation of self-reported oral health among Indonesian adolescents

“…However, sensitivity and specificity are often inversely related [25]. The results of the present study are similar to a previous study conducted in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the specificity of selfreported condition was higher than sensitivity [7,19]. A screening indicator-such as self-reported presence of caries, fillings, or tooth loss-is desired to have high sensitivity [25] which is not the case for the three indicators in this study.…”

“…Individual perception of oral health involves a comprehensive understanding of oral disease, tissue damage, altered functional ability, pain, and aesthetics as part of psychological and psychosocial aspects [6]. Previous studies have shown that the validity of selfreported oral health can vary from promising to questionable depending on the assessed condition, tools, setting and population [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Self-reported use of dentures and number of teeth present in the oral cavity had good validity while reporting the presence of gingivitis and oral hygiene status had poor validity [7].…”

“…Previous studies have shown that the validity of selfreported oral health can vary from promising to questionable depending on the assessed condition, tools, setting and population [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Self-reported use of dentures and number of teeth present in the oral cavity had good validity while reporting the presence of gingivitis and oral hygiene status had poor validity [7]. Assessing the validity of self-reported oral health in different populations is important because of the differences in validity among social groups and age cohorts [9].…”

Dental Caries and the Erosive Tooth Wear Status of 12-Year-Old Children in Jakarta, Indonesia

“…Despite the large population in Indonesia, epidemiological studies on the oral health status of children have been limited [15,16,17,18]. As the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta was considered a reference for other major cities in Indonesia.…”

“…World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines have recommended that an epidemiological survey should assess the oral health status of school children at 12 years of age [12], as all permanent teeth, except for third molars, should have erupted by this age [13,14]. However, little attention has been paid to the oral health status of children in Indonesia, on which there is limited data available in the literature [15,16,17,18]. Based on the background detailed above, the aims of this study were to assess dental caries and the erosive tooth wear status of 12-year-old children in Jakarta, Indonesia and to investigate the risk factors associated with dental caries and erosive tooth wear in these children.…”