Methodological approach
PLAQUE, DENTAL PLAQUE, PLAQUE
The efficacy of active chemical anti-plaque agents is usually assessed by quantifying dental plaque using conventional clinical indices. However, these measurements have several limitations that can produce inaccurate results and complicate agent comparisons [Our research team has recently developed DenTiUS Deep Plaque, a method that enables the assessment of the entire dentition. In particular, as well as discriminating between plaque and clean teeth, the software allows clinical indices to be obtained automatically [Although this is the first study in the literature to use our DenTiUS Deep Plaque image analysis software to evaluate the anti-plaque effect of a chemical agent, an internal validation conducted with an in situ 5-day bacterial plaque growth model found that the degree of correlation between the conventional (clinical) and the automated quantification indices was very high on days 1, 2, and 3 of plaque formation (Spearman rho ≥ 0.770) [