Quantifying plaque during orthodontic treatment:

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the literature on different methods of scoring plaque in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances.

Materials and methods: A systematic electronic and hand search using MEDLINE and PubMed was conducted.

Results: Most orthodontic trials have used the original Silness and Löe plaque index. Indices vary in several potentially important aspects. Only two papers have reported reproducibility of methods of plaque scoring in orthodontic patients.

Conclusion: Some plaque indices are inappropriate for orthodontic patients. Newer digital planimetric methods are promising if more complex. There is a need to further assess the reproducibility and practicability of the advocated methods.

Figures

Figure 1

Disclosed plaque on a bracketed tooth showing distribution predominantly behind the archwire.

Figure 2

Diagram showing modification of the Silness and Löe index as described by Williams. The tooth is divided into mesial (M), distal (D), gingival (G), and incisal (I) regions for plaque measurement.