Abstract
We determined whether the bottom of periodontal pockets can be visually confirmed using digital X-ray imaging involving the insertion of Stay-put® (Roeko, Germany), a retraction cord with a copper filament, into periodontal pockets, and whether this complements probing. To confirm that Stay-put® reaches the bottom of the periodontal pocket, probe depth was measured radiographically using Compuray® (Yoshida,Japan), dental digital X-ray equipment, manually by periodontal probe and mechanically using Probie-III® (Morita, Japan). to investigate those three methods are connected with each other by the experiments below.
Experiment 1 : We assessed the replicability of distance measurement by Compuray®.
Experiment 2 Measurements were obtained using the six-point method with Compuray® (compared to measurements for any type of periodontal pocket).
1) Reliability of measurement in healthy individuals.
2) Reliability of measurement of periodontal pocket depth.
3) Reliability of measurement for tooth type in periodontal disease.
4) Distance measurement to compare bleeding and non-bleeding.
Results were as follows :
1. We confirmed the replicalility of distance measurement by Compuray®.
2. Distance measurement obtained by Compuray®were highly concordant (>96%) with probing measurement or Probie-III®, with the difference among these techniques less than 0.2 mm.
3. The present method clearly delineated the bottom of periodontal pockets as a continuous line.
Our findings suggest that the present method is useful in complementing probe examinations.
