Assessment of Different Imaging Systems for Dental Plaque Scoring: an In-vivo Study

The study was performed with 30 adult patients aged between 18-35, recruited from among the outpatients who visited the Marmara University, Faculty of Dentistry, Restorative Dentistry Department, agreed to the terms of the experiment, had a DMFT score 3 or lower, and had relatively even teeth arrangement. Among patients, those with orthodontic bracket placed, severe crowding of teeth not visually verified in the photograph, fixed or implant restoration installed, more than 3 DMFT score, and serious systemic diseases were excluded from the study.

In order to standardize the study, the volunteers were informed that they shouldn't eat any nutrients and do oral hygiene practices after dinner. Visualization of plaque samples formed in the mouth at least 8-12 hours between 08:30 and 10:00 a.m. in the morning and collecting dental plaque samples for microbiological examination were performed after the volunteers signed the informed consent form. The Turesky Modified Quigley Hein Plaque Index (TMQHPI) was scored both by the clinical examination method and on the images taken. The correlations between the manuel examinaton, digital photography, digital scanning system and fluorecam scores were analyzed. Maxillary and mandibulary anterior teeth's buccal surfaces were scored to TMQHPI after using disclosing agent. Using the standard toothbrush provided to the volunteers, they were asked to brush their teeth twice a day for 21 days with the recommended brushing method. After 21 days, dental plaque scoring and imaging procedure was repeated and dental plaque samples were collected again and placed in Eppendorf tubes. Eppendorf tubes were kept at -80 °C during the study. Bacterial changes in the samples taken on Day 0 and Day 21 were examined by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method in Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Microbiology. The levels in plaque samples of Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Actinomyces viscosus, , Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aerus, were measured.