Applicability of Online Course for Teaching Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) Axis I in Undergraduate Dental Education-Interexaminer Reliability Between Students and Teachers in a Student Exercise.

INTRODUCTION

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are common conditions affecting the masticatory system, causing pain and dysfunction. The DC/TMD Axis I protocol is increasingly included in undergraduate dental curricula.

AIM: To evaluate the applicability of a DC/TMD Axis I online course by assessing interexaminer reliability between dental students and Level 3 calibrated specialists in an exercise including the examination of students.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Third-year dental students (N = 102) completed a DC/TMD-FIN online course. Symptomatic students (n = 58) were examined by peers and then by two trained specialists. Diagnoses were compared using Cohen's kappa (κ), sensitivity, specificity and agreement measures.

RESULTS

Excellent reliability was observed for myalgia (κ = 0.929), arthralgia (κ = 0.789), and headache attributed to TMD (κ = 0.828). Disc displacement with reduction showed fair-to-good reliability (κ = 0.623). Agreement values were high across diagnoses, while other joint conditions could not be assessed due to low case numbers.

DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that students can reliably diagnose common TMDs after completing an online course.

CONCLUSION

The course is suitable for undergraduate education, enabling reliable diagnosis of pain-related TMDs.