The use of the 5-year-olds' index: comparison between study models and intraoral photographs.

Objective: To determine if photographs may be used instead of dental study models to assess the outcome of primary surgery in 5- to 6-year-olds who were born with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate. Design: Retrospective method comparison study. Setting: Five U. K. cleft units. Subjects: Records of 96 children born with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate. Method: Dental study models and photographs including an overjet measurement taken from both the most prominent and retrusive tooth in each case were scored using the 5-year-olds' index. Results: There was moderate to very good agreement between the methods of using study models or photographs. Intraexaminer agreement was moderate to very good for study models. For the photographs it was good to very good. Overall interexaminer agreement was moderate for both study models and photographs. Conclusions: When impressions are difficult to obtain, intraoral photographs with clinically recorded overjet measurements may be used for the 5-year-olds' index.