Education Commons^™

Calibration Of Clinical Instruction In A Dental Hygiene Program, Barbara L. Bennett

Masters Theses

Continuous quality improvement training was used to improve intrarater and interrater reliability in subgingival calculus detection among the faculty of Parkland College Dental Hygiene program. Clinical trials compared the experimental group to the control group in detection of subgingival calculus on dental mannequins and patients before and after training using group standards, consensus, and feedback. Intrarater reliability was improved to a significant level and interrater reliability improved although not at a statistically significant level. Surveys distributed at the onset and end of the training examined faculty attitudes about clinical evaluation, consistency, and instruction.