title: Quantifying plaque during orthodontic treatment:.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the literature on different methods of scoring plaque in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances.
  
  
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors: Bneid Al-Gar Specialty Dental Center, Ministry of Health, Kuwait. saudalan@gmail.com
authors: Saud A
authors: SA
authors: Al-Anezi
authors: Nigel W T
authors: NW
authors: Harradine
mesh_terms: D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000145:classification*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D006801:Humans; D009967:Orthodontic Appliances / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D015203:Reproducibility of Results