SUBGINGIVAL DENTAL CALCULUS DETECTION WITH A WHO PERIODONTAL PROBE: AN IN VITRO EVALUATION.

Abstract

Objectives: The ball-tipped World Health Organization (WHO) periodontal probe is widely employed to measure periodontal probing depths, and to detect dental calculus and overhanging margins of dental restorations, in epidemiologic surveys of periodontal status in population groups. However, the ability of the WHO probe to reliably identify subgingival dental calculus on tooth root surfaces has received little attention. This study assessed, using an in vitro typodont model system, the ability of a WHO periodontal probe, as compared to an ODU 11/12 dental explorer, to accurately detect the presence of subgingival dental calculus. Methods: Three typodont models of the human oral cavity, comprised of white plastic teeth emerging from pink silicone gingival and palatal soft tissues, and presenting a total of 108 subgingival sites on mandibular posterior plastic teeth, of which 57 (52.8%) had artificial dental calculus deposits, were mounted in manikin phantom heads with simulated soft tiss