{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T13:09:02Z","timestamp":1792069742963,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,20]],"date-time":"2025-01-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1737331200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"The National Council of Humanities, Sciences, and Technologies (CONAHCYT) of Mexico","award":["669"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["669"]}]},{"name":"The National Council of Humanities, Sciences, and Technologies (CONAHCYT) of Mexico","award":["SECIHTI CIR\/026\/2024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SECIHTI CIR\/026\/2024"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Oral diseases such as caries, gingivitis, and periodontitis are highly prevalent worldwide and often arise from plaque. This study focuses on detecting three plaque stages\u2014new, mature, and over-mature\u2014using state-of-the-art YOLO architectures to enhance early intervention and reduce reliance on manual visual assessments. Methods: We compiled a dataset of 531 RGB images from 177 individuals, captured via multiple mobile devices. Each sample was treated with disclosing gel to highlight plaque types, then preprocessed for lighting and color normalization. YOLOv9, YOLOv10, and YOLOv11, in various scales, were trained to detect plaque categories, and their performance was evaluated using precision, recall, and mean Average Precision (mAP@50). Results: Among the tested models, YOLOv11m achieved the highest mAP@50 (0.713), displaying superior detection of over-mature plaque. Across all YOLO variants, older plaque was generally easier to detect than newer plaque, which can blend with gingival tissue. Applying the O\u2019Leary index indicated that over half of the study population exhibited severe plaque levels. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of automated plaque detection with advanced YOLO models in varied imaging conditions. This approach offers potential to optimize clinical workflows, support early diagnoses, and mitigate oral health burdens in low-resource communities.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics15020231","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,20]],"date-time":"2025-01-20T07:47:37Z","timestamp":1737359257000},"page":"231","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Deep Learning in Oral Hygiene: Automated Dental Plaque Detection via YOLO Frameworks and Quantification Using the O\u2019Leary Index"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0366-6249","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alfonso","family":"Ram\u00edrez-Pedraza","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnolog\u00eda Avanzada, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional, Quer\u00e9taro 76090, Mexico"},{"name":"Secretar\u00eda de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnolog\u00eda e Innovaci\u00f3n SECIHTI, IxM, Alvaro Obreg\u00f3n 03940, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6353-0864","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sebasti\u00e1n","family":"Salazar-Colores","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IA, Centro de Investigaciones en \u00d3ptica A.C., Loma del Bosque 115, Le\u00f3n 37150, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Crystel","family":"Cardenas-Valle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinica Lurviva, I. Allende, Apaseo el Grande 38160, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6662-0390","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan","family":"Terven","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnolog\u00eda Avanzada, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional, Quer\u00e9taro 76090, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6720-8282","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9-Joel","family":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Barbosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnolog\u00eda Avanzada, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional, Quer\u00e9taro 76090, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2465-188X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco-Javier","family":"Ornelas-Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnolog\u00eda Avanzada, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional, Quer\u00e9taro 76090, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2663-2463","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan-Bautista","family":"Hurtado-Ramos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnolog\u00eda Avanzada, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional, Quer\u00e9taro 76090, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8226-439X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raymundo","family":"Ramirez-Pedraza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Contaduria y Administraci\u00f3n, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Quer\u00e9taro, Quer\u00e9taro 76017, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5657-7752","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diana-Margarita","family":"C\u00f3rdova-Esparza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Inform\u00e1tica, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Quer\u00e9taro, Quer\u00e9taro 76230, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7257-7595","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julio-Alejandro","family":"Romero-Gonz\u00e1lez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Inform\u00e1tica, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Quer\u00e9taro, Quer\u00e9taro 76230, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) (2024, December 27). 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