Improved diagnostics: clinical evaluation of a color-coded, polymeric periodontal probe

The objective of this study was to compare the accuracy, reproducibility and patient comfort of a newly designed, color-coded, polymeric periodontal probe to a traditional, color-coded metal probe. Twenty-four adult subjects with varying degrees of periodontal disease (from slight to severe) reported for two visits, one week apart. A randomization schedule for probe use was adopted over the two visits so that the gingival crevices in two quadrants were probed with the same probe (metal or polymeric) providing reproducibility information for each probe, while the other two quadrants were probed first with one probe then the other for comparison data yielding information on accuracy. A bleeding index was obtained using the same schedule. Clinical scoring was performed by the same examiner. After probing each quadrant, subjects rated discomfort using a visual analog scale (VAS). Results showed no significant difference in depth readings greater than 2 mm between the polymeric and metal probes (3.41 +/- 0.37 mm vs. 3.38 +/- 0.32 mm, p = 0.55). Significantly less discomfort (assessed by VAS) was recorded by patients after polymeric probe use (3.70 +/- 2.40 cm vs. 4.44 +/- 2.49 cm, p = 0.015). The bleeding index indicated significantly less bleeding with the polymeric probe (0.80 +/- 0.56 vs. 1.24 +/- 0.65, p = 0.0001). Both the polymeric and metal probes were found to produce highly reproducible results in all measures across visits.