The results suggest that orthodontic treatment may cause sustained changes in plaque microbiotas and that molar bond-associated plaque may have raised disease potential.

Objective: To evaluate the literature on different methods of scoring plaque in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances. Materials and Methods: A systematic electronic and hand search using MEDLINE and PubMed was conducted. Results: Most orthodontic trials have used the original Silness and Lö e plaque index. Indices vary in several potentially important aspects. Only two papers have reported reproducibility of methods of plaque scoring in orthodontic patients. Conclusion: 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. (Angle Orthod. 2012;82:748-753.)

No abstract

No abstract