Western Society of Periodontics

Clinical Studies

Volume Number 4, 1995

Reproducibility of periodontal probing using a conventional manual and an automated force-controlled electronic probe

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate reproducibility of probing depth and attachment level measurements for a conventional manual probe and an automated force-controlled electronic probe. Fifteen patients who had previously received treatment for moderate to advanced chronic periodontitis were used for this study. One maxillary and one mandibular quadrant in each patient was used for the study, based on random selection. Soft acrylic stents were made for the maxillary and mandibular arches for each subject. Each patient was examined twice, 7 to 10 days apart. Probings were performed by one experienced examiner. The patients were first probed with the conventional probe and then with the electronic probe. Probings were carried out without local anesthesia. Reproducibility of PD at shallow sites by the manual probe was 59.1% for exact agreement and 98.6% within + 1.0 mm variation. For the electronic probe, corresponding values were 41.3% and 91.5% respectively. Reproducibility of PD at deeper sites was 33.0% for exact match and 96.4% within _ 1.0 mm for the manual and, correspondingly, 31.7% and 85.9% for the electronic probe. Reproducibility of AL followed a similar pattern, but was consistently lower than for PD. Thus, under the prevailing study conditions, the automated force-controlled electronic probe failed to offer significant advantages over the conventional manual probe. [P.W.]