Diagnosis Important Notes
1. Radiographs
- They reveal only about the amount of bone present
- Do not give any information about the morphology of bone defects and the number of walls involved
- Do not reveal the presence of pockets or soft tissue lesions
2. DNA probe
- It identifies the species-specific sequences of nucleic acids that make up DNA
- Helps in the identification of organisms
3. Dark field microscopy
- It is used as an alternative to cultural methods
- It has the ability to assess directly and rapidly the morphology and motility of bacteria in a plaque sample
Read And Learn More: Periodontics Question and Answers
Diagnosis Long Essays
Question 1. Define diagnosis. Describe microbiological in-investigations used. Add a note on the limitations of radiographs in periodontal diseases.
Answer:
Diagnosis Definition:
- Diagnosis may be defined as identifying a disease from an evaluation of the history, signs and symptoms, laboratory tests, and procedures
Microbiological Investigations:
1. Direct microscopy
- Specimens are viewed directly under a light
- Light microscopy
- Gram staining is done to differentiate Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms
- Darkfield microscopy
- Fresh, unstained samples are examined by it
- Light microscopy
2. Culture methods:
- Used for cultivation and identification of organisms
- It determines its susceptibility or resistance to various antimicrobial agents
Specimens Obtained:
- Blood samples
- Mucosal surfaces
- Periodontal pockets
Sampling Methods:
- Nickel-plated curettes
- Scalers
- Paper points
- Irrigation
- Surgical excision
Types Of Media:
1. Supportive media:
- Allows growth of only specific organisms
2. Enriched media:
- Encourages the growth of organisms
3. Nonselective media:
- Permits growth of most oral micro-organisms
4. Selective media:
- Contains dyes, antibiotics that are inhibitory to specific organisms
Culture Techniques:
- Jar technique
- Pre-reduced anaerobically sterilized roll tubes
- Anaerobic chamber techniques
- Enzyme reduction technique
Speciation Techniques:
1. Gas-liquid chromatography
- In it, various metabolic products of anaerobes are studied
2. DNA probes:
- Identifies periodontal pathogens
Limitations Of Radiograph In Periodontics:
- 30-60% of the mineral content of the bone must be lost to visualize the change
- Lacks sensitivity
- Actual damage is more extensive
- It is a two-dimensional view of a three-dimensional object
- It does not reveal current cellular activity
- Reflects effects of past cellular experience on bone and roots
Diagnosis Short Essays
Question1. Importance of radiographs in periodontal diseases
Answer:
- Importance Of Radiograph In Periodontics:
- Estimates severity
- Determines prognosis
- Evaluates treatment outcomes
- Demonstrates changes in calcified tissues
- Shows visual image of bone support around tooth or implant
- It detects
- Periodontal bone level
- The pattern of bone destruction
- PDL space width
- Radiodensity
- Trabecular pattern
- The marginal contour of interdental bone
- Compares pretreatment and post-treatment results
Radiographic Features Of Periodontal Diseases:
1. Periodontitis:
- Disruption of lamina dura
- Widening of PDL space
- Reduced height of interdental bone
2. Interdental craters:
- Seen as irregular areas of reduced density
3. Furcation involvement:
- Widening of PDL space
4. Periodontal abscess:
- The extent of bone destruction is seen
- Detects morphological changes in bone
5. Localized aggressive periodontitis:
- Vertical arc-like bone destruction
6. Trauma from occlusion:
- Thickening of lamina dura
- Morphological changes of the alveolar crest
- Widening of PDL space
- Change in the density of surrounding cancellous bone
Diagnosis Short Question and Answers
Question 1. Methods of probing.
Answer:
1. Walking probing method:
- In it, the probe is inserted at the distalmost surface of the tooth and walked or stepped towards the mesial surface. of the tooth at a 1 mm distance without taking out the probe completely from the gingival sulcus
- Measurement is recorded at each millimeter
2. Transgingival probing:
Transgingival Probing Uses:
- To detect alveolar bone loss
- Confirms the extent and configuration of the infrabony component of the pocket and the furcation defects
Transgingival Probing Method:
- Before flap reflection locally anesthetize the area
- Next probe is walked along the tissue tooth interface
Question 2. Subtraction radiography.
Answer:
- Subtraction radiography relies on the conversion of serial radiographs into digital images
- These images are then superimposed and the composite is viewed on a video screen
- Changes in bone density and volume can be seen
- Bone gain is seen as lighter areas and bone loss as darker areas
- Computer-assisted subtraction radiography helps in detecting changes from baseline images
- Subtraction Radiography helps in the detection of minor changes in the bone by removing the unchanged anatomic structures from the image
- Subtraction Radiography increases the sensitivity
Question 3. Periotemp.
Answer:
- Periotemp are thermal probes used to measure early in-inflammatory changes in gingival tissues
- Periotemp enables calculation of the temperature differential between the probed pocket and subgingival temperature
- Periotemp allows consideration of differences in core temperature between individuals
- Individual temperature differences are compared with those expected for each tooth and higher temperature pockets are signaled with a red-emitting diode
Question 4. Identification of furcation involvement.
Answer:
- Naber’s probe is used to assess the furcation involvement clinically
- If the pocket depth is >5 mm, there are more chances of furcation involvement
- The probe is inserted parallel to the long axis of the tooth at the mid-buccal surface of the tooth and approximately 5 mm from the CEJ
- It is angulated to find out the possible bone loss in the furcation area
- If there is minimal bone loss, furcation can be felt like a groove between
Question 5. Enumerate the criteria for the ideal probe
Answer:
- The precision of 0.1 mm
- Range of 10 mm
- Constant and standardized probing force
- Non-invasive, lightweight, and easy to use
- Easy to access any location around all teeth
- A guidance system to ensure proper angulation
- Complete sterilization of all portions entering the mouth
- No biohazard from material
- Direct electronic reading and digital output
Diagnosis Viva Voce
- Computer-assisted densitometer image analysis system offers an objective method for following alveolar bone density changes quantitatively
- Transgingival probing and visual examination by sur- gical exposure are definitive ways of knowing bone morphology
- Definitive diagnosis of furcation involvement, pocket depth, and periodontal abscess is made by clinical examination only
- In subtraction radiographs, the lighter areas indicate bone gain
- The disadvantage of subtraction radiography is it re- quires an identical projection in serial radiographs
- Periotemp probe is used to measure subgingival temperature
- Florida probe is an automated probe for recording pocket depth
- The diameter of the Florida probe tip is 0.4 mm
- Foster-Miller probe detects CEJ
- The bacterial culture technique is used to assess the antibiotic susceptibility of the microbes
- Evalusite is chairside membrane immunoassay
- Periotron is used to measure gingival crevicular fluid volume
- Periogard is a chairside test kit for aspartate aminotransferase
- Periocheck is a chairside test kit to detect neutral pro-tease in GCF