title: The reliability of pocket probing around screw-type implants.
abstract: This study involved 108 patients (age 38-82 years) rehabilitated with overdentures in the lower jaw supported by 2 endosseous screw-shaped implants. At each follow-up visit, the clinical attachment level (PAL) around the implants was assessed with a Merrit-B probe or a constant force electronic probe, Peri-probe, and biannually parallel long-cone radiographs were taken to locate the marginal bone level. These data were used to examine the relationship between bone and attachment level estimations around implants. As a mean, bone level and PAL, for mesial and distal sites, was 0.67 and 0.61 for the Merrit-B probe, and 0.76 and 0.65, respectively for the Peri-probe. The highest correlations were obtained for sites with a healthy gingiva or in absence of intra-bony craters. Duplicate PAL registrations showed a standard deviation for the intra-examiner variability of 2.37 (Peri-probe) or 0.40 mm (Merrit-B probe) with more than 90% of the variation within 0.5 mm. The mean difference in PAL between Merrit-B probe or Peri-probe was 0.05 mm. It was concluded that the clinical attachment level determination is a reliable indicator for bone level around implants with a moderate healthy gingiva.
authors.affiliation: Catholic University Leuven, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Periodontology, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quirynen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Steenberghe
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schotte
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Darius
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D015921:Dental Implants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D010517:Periodontics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants