Basic Periodontal Examination Flashcards
What is the aim of the BPE?
Screening tool used to asses periodontal health.
Doesn’t provide diagnosis.
What are the limitations of the BPE?
Can result in an underestimation of loss of attachment:
Doesn’t take gum recession or false pocketing into account.
Doesn’t show the extent of the disease:
A code in one sextant could indicate that one site has that score or that many sites have that score.
What probe is used for the BPE?
WHO BPE probe.
Describe the features of a WHO BPE probe.
Ball on the end - o.5mm
Black band - starts at 3.5mm ends at 5.5mm.
There can be a second black band but this serves no purpose in the BPE.
How is BPE carried out?
Mouth split into sextants.
WHO BPE probe is walked around each tooth in the sextant.
Each sextant is awarded the worst score.
i.e. scores of 2,2,1,4 the sextant is given an overall score of 4.
What teeth are not examined in the sextant? Is this always the case?
3rd molars aren’t examined - they have lots of developmental issues.
They are examined however if the 1st and/or 2nd molars are missing.
How many teeth does a sextant need to have for it to be examined?
at least 2.
What happens if a sextant doesn’t have 2 teeth?
The score of the single tooth is encorporated into the adjacent sextants score.
What should you do if a code 4 is identified in a sextant?
Examine all of the sites in the sextant.
What does a code 0 indicate?
Black band entirely visible.
Pockets less than 3.5mm.
No calculus or overhangs.
No bleeding on probing.
What does a code 1 indicate?
Black band entirely visible.
Pockets less than 3.5mm
No calculus or overhangs.
BLEEDING on probing.
What does a code 2 indicate?
Black band is entirely visible.
Pocket less than 3.5mm
Supra/subgingival calculus/overhangs.
Bleeding on probing.
What does a code 3 indicate?
Black band partially visible.
Pockets between 3.5mm and 5.5mm.
What does a code 4 indicate?
Black band disappears.
Pockets > 5.5mm
What does * indicate?
Furcation involvement.
