Comparison of various plaque parameters in individuals with poor oral hygiene

The control of plaque formation on tooth surfaces would appear to be a major goal of preventive dentistry. Several subjective scoring procedures for estimating plaque have been described. In the prresent investigation, stained and unstained plaque scorres were compared with various physical characteristics of plaque such as dry weitht, wet weight, microscopic count, absorbance of dispersed plaque suspensions, nitrogen and carbohydrate content. An institutionalized population that exhibited moderate to severe gingivitis and heavy plaque accumulations was studied. Significant correlations between the gravimetric measurements and microscopic count with either gingivitis scores or the unstained plaque scores were found. The stained plaque scorre showed no correlation with plaque weight or gingivitis scores in this population.