Evaluation of the University at Buffalo orthodontic resident's finished cases with the American Board of Orthodontics Discrepancy Index and Bbjective Grading System

Orthodontic residencies have used different means throughout the years to educate residents. Many of these means are strategies first introduced by hallmark orthodontists, while others were proposed by orthodontic educational bodies. The American Board of Orthodontics devised some tools for the use of Orthodontists as well as Orthodontic residents to evaluate cases before treatment begins and after treatment is completed. These tools are the Discrepancy Index (DI) and The American Board of Orthodontics Objective Grading System (ABO-OGS) respectively.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the finished cases treated by residents at SUNY at Buffalo Orthodontic residency program. The aim was to evaluate the possibility of the residents at Buffalo passing the ABO Part III Clinical exam as well as to identify areas of excellence of UB instruction and areas that need to be improved.Materials & Methods. Forty-eight cases were selected for this study. Eighteen of the selected cases were discarded due to the lack of complete final records. The pretreatment records of the remaining 30 cases were graded according to the DI index. These same 30 cases were then graded according to the ABO-OGS standard using digital models and radiographs after case completion. It was hypothesized that as the DI increased the total ABO Score would increase as well.Results. The study showed no correlation (p > 0.05) between DI pretreatment and ABO-OGS post treatment evaluations. The study showed that the residents at UB have an excellent chance of passing the ABO Part III Clinical Exam. It was noted that the residents do very well with Interproximal contacts, Anterior/Posterior relationships, Overjet, and Alignment/Rotations. The residents at UB could do better with Buccolingual Inclination. Occlusal contacts proved to be difficult to evaluate on digital models. As with other studies the score in this category seems to be errant.Conclusions. Our study suggests that no correlation exists between the DI and the final outcome of cases as measured with the model grading system of the ABO. Great outcomes should be attainable irrespective of the original DI. The residents at UB are very likely to pass the ABO Part III clinical board examination, yet there are specific areas such as buccolingual inclination that could be improved.