[A Zero Pocket Concept in periodontal maintenance]

Pulling all registers in the treatment of periodontal disease with taking advantage of optimized treatment phases is very ef­fective in most of the cases and can lead to reasonable remission (probe depth of ≤ 5 mm) if not complete recovery (probe depth of ≤ 3 mm without bleeding on probing). To maintain treatment success after active periodontal therapy a so­ called “periodontal maintenance” recall interval is required. Not uncommonly, this recall program leads to bypassing further treatment options and turns into an ongoing long­term patient care. This article tries to shed light on the questions asked about patient treatment and handling with the elimination of the disease as chief objective. Hence, pathways of triage and treatment endpoints are being challenged and the expression “recall” is being readjusted.