Correlation between plaque and gingival indexscores in a xylitol trial

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of xylitol candies on plaque and gingival index scores on physically disabled schoolchildren in Kuwait. Methods: Altogether 145 schoolchildren (105 in the xylitol group and 40 in the control group) with age range 10-27 years (mean age = 14.7 years) participated in this 18 month intervention program. Xylitol candies were distributed to the children by the school health nurses three times during the school day. Plaque was scored according to the Sillness and Loe plaque index (PlI) and gingivitis according to the Loe and Sillness gingival index (GI). Paired - Samples T-test was used to test the differences in the mean plaque and gingival scores at the baseline and in the final examinations. Analysis of variance was used to test the differences between the study and control group. Bivariate Correlations were used to measure the relationships between mean plaque and gingival scores in the baseline and in the final assessments. Pearson's Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to measure linear association between the mean plaque and gingival index scores. Results: The mean plaque score decreased from 1.73 to 1.14 (p < 0.001), and the mean gingival score from 1.74 to 1.16 (p < 0.001) in the study group. Significant differences were found between the xylitol and the control groups in the reduction of plaque (p = 0.037) and gingival index scores (p = 0.008). There was high correlation between the individual plaque and gingival index scores at baseline (r = 0.93) and final examinations (r = 0.95). The correlation between the reduction in plaque and reduction in gingivitis was 0.86. Conclusions: Xylitol candies used three times during school days seemed to reduce both plaque and gingival scores among these disabled children. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by Kuwait University Research Adminstration Grant No DI 02101.