Comparison of Treatment Outcome Assessment for Class I Malocclusion Patients: Peer Assessment Rating versus American Board of Orthodontics-Objective Grading System

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study is to investigate the degree of coincidence between the peer assessment rating (PAR) index and American Board of Orthodontics objective grading system (ABO-OGS) in the assessment of orthodontic treatment outcomes of Class I malocclusion cases. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 26 Class I patients. The PAR index was used for evaluation of pre-(T0) and posttreatment (T1) casts, and the ABO-OGS for assessment of T1 casts. If there was a reduction in PAR scores from T0 to T1 of more than 30%, the label 'PAR+' was given to the case, and if not, it was labeled 'PAR-'. If the ABO-OGS was less than 27, the label 'OGS+' was given to the case and if not, it was labeled 'OGS-'. 'A PAR-only qualified group' (PAR+), 'ABO-OGS-only qualified group' (OGS+), 'both indices qualified group' (PAR+/OGS+), and 'both indices disqualified group' (PAR-/OGS-) were compared with a Wilcoxon rank-sum test, sensitivity/specifi city test and Spearman's correlation test. Result: PAR scores for T0, T1, and percentage reduction were 21.1, 6.4, and 65.9%, respectively, and 35.4 for ABOOGS. The distribution of the 'PAR+/OGS+', 'PAR+', and 'PAR-/OGS-' group was 19.3%, 76.9%, and 3.8%, respectively. The T0-PAR, T1-PAR and PAR point reductions for the 'PAR+' group were significantly higher than those of 'PAR+/OGS+' groups (23.1 vs. 15.6; 6.7 vs. 4.6; and 16.5 vs. 11.0; all P<0.05). However, the PAR-percentage reduction and treatment duration between the two groups were not statistically different (70.0% vs. 67.0%, P=0.4325; 24.1 months vs. 25.0 months, P=0.4057). The T1-ABO-OGS score for 'PAR+' group was significantly higher than that of the 'PAR+/OGS+' groups (38.2 vs. 24.0, P<0.001). Conclusion: Since the fraction of the 'PAR+/OGS+' group was less than 20% and there was no significant correlation between PAR-percentage reduction and T1-ABO-OGS, development of a new index system for the accurate evaluation of treatment outcome is needed.