Periodontal examination and supragingival plaque collection
bleeding, tooth
BLEEDING, GINGIVAL BLEEDING, DENTAL PLAQUE, BLEEDING TENDENCY, PLAQUE
Periodontal examination was performed by an operator, previously trained until reaching a low intra-operator variability, using an UNC-15 periodontal probe with a controlled (ca. 0.25 N) force. The gingival sulcus depth (distance from the gingival margin to the bottom of the gingival sulcus, evaluated at each tooth surface, for all teeth), modified Loe–Silness gingival index (assessment of gingival color, texture, and bleeding tendency, evaluated at four specific sites of each tooth), sulcus bleeding index (assessment of gingival bleeding, with a score of 0–5 per site), BOP (recorded based on the presence or absence of bleeding up to 20 s after probing at the experimental sites), and dental plaque index (evaluation of the presence of plaque, with a score of 0–5 per site) were measured [