Reliability of non-polarized versus polarized digital photographs for evaluation of gingival redness

Introduction: The reported prevalence of gingivitis in various developed countries is considered high. This rate escalates with the increase in age, especially around puberty which affects their oral health related quality of life. The consequences of periodontal diseases observed in adults mostly had their inception earlier in life. Gingival conditions were found to be worse than caries among adolescents and were not taken seriously compared to caries.

Aim: Comparison between the gingival redness in group of Egyptian children as evaluated using analyzed polarized versus non-polarized digital photographs.

Subjects and methods: 47 Egyptian participants aged 11-14 years-old from Newgiza University outpatients’ clinic agreed to participate were recruited and agreed to participate in the study. Gingival redness was evaluated using analyzed digital photographs with and without cross polarizing filter then analyzed via Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud (CC) 2021 software. Comparison between non-polarized and polarized photos was performed using independent t-test.

Results: The study showed that non-polarized photos were significantly higher in number of red pixels than polarized photos as P <0.05. Reliability between two different digital photographic techniques was performed using Cronbach alpha (α), which revealed strong agreement between polarized and non-polarized digital photographic evaluation.

Conclusion: Digital photography can be used in evaluation of gingival redness with or without cross polarizing filter.