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Updated: Jul 15, 2025
Semi-Automated Planimetric Quantification of Dental Plaque Using an Intraoral Fluorescence Camera
Published on: January 27, 2023
Agreement in quantification of removable prosthesis plaque area coverage using a semi-automated planimetric
Tong Wah Lim1, Hongyi Pan2, Mi Pan3
1Division of Restorative Dental Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, PR China.
Objectives:
To determine the agreement of removable dental prosthesis cleanliness as assessed by a semi-automated planimetric method between images captured by a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) and smartphone.
Methods:
A total of 97 participants with removable prostheses were recruited for the quantification of the prosthesis plaque area coverage. The colour images of stained prosthesis plaque were obtained using both a DSLR camera and a smartphone. The prosthesis plaque area coverage was analysed in two ways: (i) prosthesis cleanliness index (PCI) and (ii) percentage plaque area coverage (PPC). The PPC (continuous data) was converted to the PCI (categorical data) to provide prevalence ordinal scales and the agreements in PCI ratings were determined using weighted Kappa statistics. Agreement of PPC scores was determined through assessing directional, standardised directional, and absolute differences and correlation analyses.
Results:
Weighted Kappa values of agreement between PCI categories were excellent (> 0.80) for all comparisons. The mean PPC was 24.79 % as determined by DSLR and 25.37 % as determined by smartphone. There was no statistically significant difference in the means of PPC between the DSLR and smartphone (P = 0.149). The standardised directional difference was 0.15 ('small'). The mean absolute difference was 2.77. The interclass correlation coefficient was 0.98 ('excellent').
Conclusions:
This method showed almost perfect agreements and allowed for threshold-based plaque segmentation on the removable prostheses. There was substantial agreement between DSLR and smartphone assessment of prosthesis plaque area coverage as determined by a semi-automated planimetric assessment.
Clinical Significance:
This semi-automated planimetric assessment method has implications for monitoring removable prosthesis hygiene initiatives by offering a valid, reliable, and quantitative method of assessment with potential use in managed care and community settings.
