Effects of orthodontic experience on the reliability of the GOSLON Yardstick

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of the clinical experience on the reliability of the GOSLON Yardstick. Design: Comparativemeasures study. Material: 3D images of the study models of children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (n: 119) at an average age of 9 years were included to the study. All subjects had their cleft lip and palate repaired in many hospitals by different surgeons, but no alveolar graft or any orthodontic treatment was performed. Method: Digital views of the models were used by OrthoModel software program. 3D images of the study models were scored by two groups of raters (Group I: 10 experienced orthodontists, Group II: 10 post-graduate orthodontic students) after careful perusal of published literature concerning GOSLON scoring and examining dental models samples. Main outcome measures: Statistics of intraand inter-rater agreement. Results: Intra-rater agreement measurements of the two groups were high and high inter-rater agreement was also found between the two groups. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study clinical orthodontic experience does not affect significantly the reliability of the GOSLON Yardstick when all the raters trained before scoring.