Observations on Temperature and Temperature Patterns of the Gingiva: II. Estimations of the Error in Measurement

Abstract

The diagnostician may expect an error associated with the measurements of clinical parameters. It is important to know how precise these measurements are. The purpose of this study was to make an estimation of the measurement error by comparing repeated measures of the same site. Six dental hygiene students were examined for gingival and sublingual temperatures as well as pocket depths and sulcular bleeding. All measurements were recorded twice. The maximum error associated with 95% of the temperature data and the average error were calculated as 1.3°C and 0.65°C, respectively. The probabilities of making a correct assessment of pocket depth and of sulcular bleeding were computed to be 0.864 and 0.840, respectively. The need for repeated measures was statistically analyzed. It can be concluded from our data that the thermocouple thermometer used in this study is a suitable instrument for measuring the gingival temperature. However, it is necessary to acquire a higher level of precision for the assessment of pocket depth and sulcular bleeding. This can be accomplished by increasing the number of clinical measures on each point.