Periodontal probing.

For decades, probing clinical pocket depth and attachment level have been recognized as the dentist's most important tools in diagnosing periodontal health and disease. They are physical methods to measure the distance from the bottom of a pocket to a reference line, usually the gingival margin or the cemento-enamel junction. Probing accuracy and precision are affected by factors like the design of the probe, probing force, probe position, pocket depth, or tissue inflammation. Recently, several new electronic periodontal probes have been developed. They feature high instrument precision, allowing for measurements to the nearest tenth of a millimeter. They control for probing force and permit data to be collected and stored electronically. The purpose of this review paper is to summarize various aspects of periodontal probing. First, the history of periodontal probes will be briefly recollected, and interesting and significant inventions of the past and the present emphasized. Then, the importance of the periodontal tissues relative to probe tip penetration will be reviewed, and the probing performance will be discussed. The paper will conclude with notes on selected statistical issues.