Periodontal Diagnosis
How gum disease is diagnosed — measuring pocket depths, assessing bone level on x-rays, and establishing how far it has progressed.
Diagnosis is about measurement rather than impression. Healthy gum attaches closely to the tooth; diseased gum detaches and forms a pocket. How deep those pockets are, and how much bone remains, is what determines both the diagnosis and the treatment.
What is assessed
- Pocket depth around each tooth, measured with a fine calibrated probe
- Whether the gums bleed when probed, which indicates active inflammation
- Bone levels on x-rays, compared with previous images where available
- Gum recession, and how much root is exposed
- Whether any teeth have become mobile
Recording these gives a baseline. The value of a baseline is comparison — it turns "your gums look about the same" into an actual answer.