Reliability and discriminatory power of methods for dental plaque quantification

Objective

This in situ study evaluated the discriminatory power andreliability of methods of dental plaque quantification and the relationshipbetween visual indices (VI) and fluorescence camera (FC) to detect plaque.

Material and Methods

Six volunteers used palatal appliances with six bovine enamel blocks presentingdifferent stages of plaque accumulation. The presence of plaque with and withoutdisclosing was assessed using VI. Images were obtained with FC and digital camerain both conditions. The area covered by plaque was assessed. Examinations weredone by two independent examiners. Data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and Kappatests to compare different conditions of samples and to assess the inter-examinerreproducibility.

Results

Some methods presented adequate reproducibility. The Turesky index and theassessment of area covered by disclosed plaque in the FC images presented thehighest discriminatory powers.

Conclusions

The Turesky index and images with FC with disclosing present good reliability anddiscriminatory power in quantifying dental plaque.