Index of Oral Cleanliness (I.O.C.). A new oral hygiene index for use in clinical audit.

Although plaque control influences orthodontic treatment planning, treatment progress and outcome, current national orthodontic clinical audit software does not include an assessment of oral hygiene. This paper presents the development of the Index of Oral Cleanliness, a new simple rapid measure of oral hygiene, and describes its validation and reliability by comparison with the Silness and Loe plaque index in an unselected group of adolescents. It is concluded that the Index of Oral Cleanliness provides a valid quantitative method of scoring oral hygiene, with advantages for use in routine clinical practice.