Evaluating intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility in histometric measurement: one-wall intrabony periodontal defects in beagle dogs

PURPOSE: Accurate and exact measurement is an important factor for generating meaningful results in any properly designed study. If all the participating examiners are able to yield similar results, it will be possible to evaluate the objective results of the study more easily and quickly. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility of histometric measurements in the intrabony periodontal defect model. METHODS: One wall intrabony defects were surgically created at the distal aspect of the second and the medial aspect of the fourth mandibular premolars in the right and left jaw quadrants in twenty beagle dogs and the defect sites received the following β-tri calcium phosphate, growth differentiation factor-0, growth differentiation factor-100 and sham surgery. Histometric analysis was performed after 8 weeks. Histometric parameters were recorded and repeated at three months interval by three examiners. Intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility was assessed. RESULTS: Most parameters of all the groups showed high intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility. Parameters including defect height, bone regeneration height, cementum regeneration height, and formation of junctional epithelium yielded inter-examiner correlation ≥ 0.9. The intra-examiner reproducibility showed a high result, over 0.9. CONCLUSIONS: Histometric evaluation of the one-wall intra-alveolar periodontal defect model showed high reproducibility not only for a single given examiner but also among the three examiners.