Quantitative Light-Induced Fluorescence (QLF) in Assessing the Efficacy of Dental Floss as An Adjunct to Toothbrushing

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this was to determine the of adjunctive usage of interdental mechanical aids along with educational, preventive and motivational actions on plaque reduction using Quantitative Light- induced Fluorescence (QLF-D) in motivated and non- motivated individuals. Materials and Method: 25 dental students were selected for this study, clinical indices, and QLF-D scores were recorded for all, after which they were divided into two groups. All the participants were given standardized toothbrushes and toothpaste. One group was asked to follow the regular oral hygiene methods while the other group was asked to use toothbrushes and floss along with instructions to use them for three weeks. After said period, the participants reported to the clinic and clinical indices and QLF-D scores were recorded again. The data was collected and subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The statistically significant intragroup difference was noted in groups. When comparing the plaque reduction three weeks post-intervention, the Simple Plaque Score (SPS) score showed a significant difference, whereas, the red fluorescence did not show any significant difference. Conclusion: According to the results obtained, we can conclude that patient education using QLF-D was effective as interdental plaque can be visualized by the patients and effectively cleaned using interdental aids like floss, which is difficult with clinical indices alone. So QLF- D can be an effective educational and motivational tool.