A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL CONSISTENCY OF PLAQUE LEVELS IN ADULTS

The present investigation was designed to determine the individual var iation of plaque levels in adults over a period of 3 months. The parti cipants were 20 healthy subjects, 11 men and 9 women, with a mean age of 42.3 +/- 7.3 (SD) years. Plaque area was determined with a computer ized image analysis system and expressed as percentage of tooth area ( P% Index). The scoring procedures were carried out three times (tests 1, 2, and 3) at an interval of 4 weeks. After each test all plaque was removed. All subjects were instructed to maintain their personal oral hygiene habits during the study. The results showed no significant di fferences for the means of P% Index between tests 1, 2, and 3 in the w hole mouth, upper and lower jaws, right and left sides, or each tooth surface. The intraindividual plaque levels for individual tooth surfac es were closely correlated between tests 1, 2 and 3. The intraindividu al plaque level was consistent in tests 1, 2, and 3 with standard devi ations within subjects ranging from 1.1% to 6.2%. This study suggests that individual plaque levels seem to be consistent on the basis of to oth surface over a certain period of time. Individual plaque control s hould be more directed towards tooth surfaces with comparably high pla que accumulation within the mouth for significant reduction of the ove rall plaque levels.