Quigley and Helm proposed a system for scoring dental plaque. This was modified by Turesky et al to more explicitly describe mild to moderate plaque deposits.
Plaque Scoring System for Quigley and Hein |
Score |
no plaque |
0 |
flecks of stain at the gingival margin |
1 |
definite line of plaque at the gingival margin |
2 |
gingival third of surface |
3 |
two thirds of surface |
4 |
greater than two thirds of surface |
5 |
Modified Plaque Scoring System of Turesky et al |
Score |
no plaque |
0 |
separate flecks of plaque at the cervical margin of the tooth |
1 |
a thin continuous band of plaque (up to 1 mm) at the cervical margin of the tooth |
2 |
a band of plaque wider than 1 mm covering less than one third of the crown of the tooth |
3 |
plaque covering at least one-third but less than two thirds of the crown of the tooth |
4 |
plaque covering two-thirds or more of the crown of the tooth |
5 |
Scoring by the Turesky modification:
(1) all teeth assessed except third molars (maximum number 28)
(2) a staining solution is used to show plaque deposits (Quigley and Turesky used basic fuchsin, Gordon used erythrosine)
(3) both the facial and lingual surfaces examined (maximum number 56)
(4) a score is assigned to each facial and lingual nonrestored surface
total score =
= SUM(scores for all facial and lingual surfaces)
index =
= (total score) / (number of surfaces examined)
Interpretation:
• A score of 0 or 1 is considered low.
• A score of 2 or more is considered high.
Specialty: Otolaryngology
ICD-10: ,