Development of the Chinese version of the Oro‐facial Esthetic Scale

The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Oro‐facial Esthetic Scale among Chinese‐speaking patients. The original Oro‐facial Esthetic Scale was cross‐culturally adapted in accordance with the international standards to develop a Chinese version (OES‐C). Unlike the original Oro‐facial Esthetic Scale, the version employed in this study used a 5‐point Likert scale with items rated from unsatisfactory to most satisfactory. Psychometric evaluation included the reliability and validity of the OES‐C. The reliability of the OES‐C was determined through internal consistency and test–retest methods. The validity of OES‐C was analysed by content validity, discriminative validity, construct validity and convergent validity. The corrected item‐total correlation coefficients of the OES‐C ranged from 0·859 to 0·910. The inter‐item correlation coefficients between each two of the eight items of the OES‐C ranged from 0·766 to 0·922. The values of ICC ranged from 0·79 (95% CI = 0·54–0·98) to 0·93 (95% CI = 0·87–0·99), indicating an excellent agreement. Construct validity was proved by the presence of one‐factor structure that accounted for 83·507% of the variance and fitted well into the model. Convergent validity was confirmed by the association between OES‐C scores and self‐reported oral aesthetics and three questions from the Oral Health Impact Profile related to aesthetics (correlation coefficients ranged from ?0·830 to ?0·702, P < 0·001). OES‐C scores discriminated aesthetically impaired patients from healthy controls. This study provides preliminary evidence concerning the reliability and validity of the OES‐C. The results show that the OES‐C may be a useful tool for assessment of oro‐facial esthetics in China.