Malocclusion Impact Scale for Early Childhood (MIS-EC): development and validation

Prevalence of Malocclusion Traits in Primary Dentition, 2010-2024: A Systematic Review

The present review was aimed to describe the prevalence and the regional distribution of malocclusion among preschool children worldwide. Two independent reviewers performed a systematic literature search to identify English publications from January 2010 to May 2024 using PubMed, ISI Web of Science and Embase. Search MeSH key words were "malocclusion", "primary dentition" and "child, preschool". The reporting quality was assessed by the modified Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. We identified 2599 publications and recruited 47 articles. Fourteen of the included studies were conducted in Asia, four in Europe, twenty-eight in South America and one in Africa. The prevalence of malocclusion ranged from 28.4% to 83.9%, and half of the reported prevalences were higher than 50%. The highest percentage was in Asia (61.81%), followed by Europe (61.50%), South America (52.69%) and Africa (32.50%). Statistically significant differences existed in deep overbite, anterior open bite, posterior crossbite, edge-to-edge incisor relationship and distal step between continents (p < 0.05). Europe showed the highest prevalence (33.08%) of deep overbite. Africa showed the highest prevalence (18.60%) of anterior open bite. Europe showed the highest prevalence (15.38%) of posterior crossbite. The most common malocclusion traits were increased overjet and deep overbite. To conclude, malocclusion remained prevalent in the primary dentition and varied between countries.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Chinese version of the Malocclusion Impact Scale for Early Childhood (MIS-EC/C)

BACKGROUND

The Malocclusion Impact Scale for Early Childhood (MIS-EC) is a newly developed questionnaire used to measure the parental perceptions of the impact of malocclusion on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of preschool children aged 3-5 years. This study describes the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the MIS-EC questionnaire into Chinese version (MIS-EC/C).

METHODS

The MIS-EC/C was developed in accordance with international standards. The scale was then evaluated in a cross-sectional study comprising 210 preschool children aged 3-5 years. The reliability of the MIS-EC/C was tested using internal consistency and test-retest reliability analyses. Cross-cultural validity, discriminant validity and convergent validity were tested.

RESULTS

The Cronbach's α value and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) value for the MIS-EC/C were 0.943 and 0.873, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the fitting indicators of the two-factor model all reached the standard. The MIS-EC/C can differentiate preschool children with malocclusion from those without malocclusion. In addition, there is a good relationship between the MIS-EC/C and the general oral health question.

CONCLUSION

The MIS-EC/C is a reliable and effective assessment tool for assessing the effect of malocclusion on the OHRQoL of preschool children in China.

Design, development and validation of a questionnaire to assess dentists' knowledge and experience in diagnosing, recording, and managing root caries

OBJECTIVES

The prevalence of root caries is increasing globally, especially in the elderly population, and even though the number of patients with root caries lesions is augmenting, there are still many discrepancies in how dentists manage this condition. The present study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire to evaluate how dentists diagnose, record and manage root caries lesions, and to verify the validity and reliability of this questionnaire.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An expert panel developed a self-administered questionnaire survey with three domains: (1) dentists' knowledge on diagnosis, recording, and managing root caries; (2) information about their current general clinical routines; (3) their demographics. The original English [E] version was translated into three different languages (French [F], German [G], Italian [I]), and subsequently back-translated into English by independent dentists. For the validation, 82 dentists (20-22 for each of the translated versions) accepted to answer the questionnaire at two different time-points (with 1-week interval). The data was quality checked. Construct validity, internal reliability, and intra-class correlation (ICC) were assessed.

RESULTS

Seventy-seven dentists completed the questionnaire twice [E: 17; F: 19; G: 19; I: 22]. The mean ICC (standard deviation) was 0.98(0.03) for E, 0.90(0.12) for F, 0.98 (0.04) for G, and 0.98 (0.01) for I. Overall, the test-retest reliability was excellent (mean ICC (SD): 0.96 (0.08)). Furthermore, the questionnaire demonstrated good internal reliability (inter-observer reliability; Fleiss kappa: overall:0.27(fair); E:0.30 (fair); F: 0.33(fair); G: 0.33(fair); I: 0.89 (almost perfect)).

CONCLUSION

The questionnaire was validated and is suitable to be used in the four languages to assess the knowledge of dentists on diagnosing, recording and managing root caries.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The present questionnaire was validated and seems to be a good tool to evaluate how dentists diagnose, record, and manage root caries lesions both in its original (English) and its translated (French, German, and Italian) versions.