Assessment methods and clinical outcomes: chemical and microbial composition, formation, and maturation dynamics of pellicle, plaque, and calculus.

Understanding the functional dynamics of the oral cavity helps researchers design methods to predict clinical outcomes. Most information about the oral cavities of companion animals must be drawn from animal studies designed to understand human oral disease and from human studies. Based upon functional criteria for any animal or experimental research study, supragingival plaque and calculus can be assessed within four to six weeks. Although longer studies may be more appealing, such study designs may compromise the oral soft tissue health of the animals and are complicated by oral cavity dynamics. Thus, they are less sensitive and predictive of longer term clinical outcomes. Additional research is necessary to relate tooth surface accumulation phenomena with oral soft tissue health.