Critical appraisal of systematic and narrative reviews of literature in the field of orthodontics

This article in an updated of its original version was published in the journal intitled "Jornal Brasileiro de Clínica Odontológica Integrada", volume 9, pages 88 and 89, in 2005.Due to improved knowledge concerning human health, and changes in the clinical diagnostic criteria for periodontal diseases that occurred after the study period, the need for some updates became evident.Objective: the present study aimed to update the criteria for clinical diagnosis of periodontal diseases that guide the research in the area of Periodontics and Epidemiology at some Institutions.Method: A guideline was developed by a Committee of professors, researchers and dentists during the First Seminar on Periodontology in Collective Health held in the city of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil, in the year 2004, after discussion and a main document was approved.The following clinical parameters were used in the discussion: probing depth, the distance between gingival margin and cementum enamel junction measurement, clinical attachment level, gingival redness and gingival bleeding on stimulus.Results: In addition to the clinical periodontal criteria presented in the original article published (2005), other criteria of periodontal diseases severity were presented according to the oral condition of the group of individuals investigated.A sample of 644 pregnant women users of the public health service of the municipality of Santo Antônio de Jesus, Bahia, Brazil were employed to evaluate periodontitis status.The diagnosis followed three criteria: 1.Center for Disease Prevention and Control and American Academy of Periodontology.2.Gomes-Filho et al. 1 3. Gomes-Filho et al. modified.The frequency of periodontitis in the sample varied from 17.24% to 66.92%.Conclusions: the results of the present study indicate the need to use different diagnostic criteria of periodontal diseases depending on the type of study to be developed and population investigated.Taking care to use the appropriate diagnostic criteria, besides allowing the standardization of the definition of the diseases, contributes to improving the comparability between the findings of scientific studies in this field of health, since a diversity of clinical criteria exist.