A diagnosis of periodontal disease is made after analyzing all of the information collected from a periodontal examination. This information includes the presence or absence of clinical signs of inflammation such as bleeding on probing, probing depths and the loss of clinical attachment and bone.
Gingival bleeding (Bleeding on Probing/Bleeding Index) has been used as a reliable and objective clinical parameter for the evaluation of the inflammatory conditions of gingival connective tissues since 1967.
The bleeding index has also been used in a wide variety of studies by scientists in the evaluation of periodontal conditions as a means of establishing activity and progression. Bleeding is not only an objective sign of gingivitis or periodontitis, but also precedes other objective signs such as changes in color and edema. The occurrence of bleeding during periodontal examination with a probe, is widely accepted by dentists as an objective sign of inflammatory periodontal disease and can be easily understood by patients.
One of the most accurate and reliable means of assessing the progression of periodontal disease is clinical attachment loss of gingival tissue. Periodontal probing is performed to numerically assess the depth of gingival attachment and determine if any loss has occurred. Periodontal pockets are defined as probing depths of 4 mm or more. Clinical attachment loss is also evaluated using the probe and is the amount of root that is exposed because of tissue loss and is called gingival recession.
Perio pockets before and after treatment (649 patients).
Click to enlarge.