title: Periodontal diagnosis in treated periodontitis. Why, when and how to use clinical parameters.
abstract: The objective of clinical periodontal diagnosis in maintenance patients is to monitor the risk for periodontal disease progression. Risk for progression should be continuously monitored at the patient, tooth and site level at each recall appointment. At the patient level, the significance of systemic diseases, cigarette smoking, compliance with the recall program, loss of support in relation to the patient's age, full mouth plaque and/or bleeding scores, and prevalence of residual pockets are of key importance. At the tooth and tooth-site levels, residual periodontal support, inflammatory parameters and their persistence, presence of ecological niches with difficult access such as furcations, and presence of iatrogenic factors have to be put into proportion with the patient's overall risk profile. The information gathered by clinical monitoring and continuous multilevel risk assessment facilitates an immediate appreciation of the periodontal health status of an individual and the possible risk for further infection and/or disease progression in the dentition and at a particular tooth or site.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology and Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tonetti
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000175:diagnosis; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000175:diagnosis; D018450:Disease Progression; D017823:Furcation Defects / Q000175:diagnosis; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000175:diagnosis; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects