Can questionnaires replace clinical surveys to assess dental treatment needs of adults?

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether questionnaires can be used to replace clinical surveys by comparing normative and perceived caries status and treatment needs in a sample of adults living in East London, UK.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two stages: a structured interview inquired about perceived dental caries status and treatment needs, and dental examinations were performed to determine oral health status and normative treatment needs. Perceived and normative assessments were compared for overall proportions, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV), using the dental examination as a gold standard.

RESULTS: Of 139 people examined, 122 were dentate. The PPVs for perceived caries and treatment need were 0.58 and 0.67, respectively. Overall agreement was 65.4 percent for the presence of caries and 64.7 percent for the presence of treatment need. However, no net error was found between the proportions of participants with decay, and a small net error (7.4%) was found between perceived and normative treatment need.

CONCLUSIONS: Self-assessment is not useful to assess individual dental treatment need, but is of possible value in assessing the needs of adult communities.