Digital quantification of soft tissue volumetric changes after scaling and root planning

Area of Science:

• Periodontology
• Digital dentistry
• Biomedical imaging

Background:

• Periodontitis treatment monitoring requires accurate analysis of periodontal tissue changes.
• Traditional methods for assessing volumetric changes in periodontal soft tissues are often invasive or inaccurate.
• Digital methods offer a promising alternative for precise periodontal tissue analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure volumetric changes in periodontal tissues after scaling and root planing using digital methods.
• To compare pre- and post-treatment digital scans (STL files) for quantitative analysis.
• To evaluate the efficacy of digital superimposition for monitoring periodontal treatment outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized intraoral scanning to capture pre- and post-treatment digital models (STL files).
• Performed scaling and root planing (SRP) as the periodontal intervention.
• Superimposed pre- and post-treatment STL files to quantify volumetric and dimensional changes in periodontal tissues.
• Compared digital measurements with clinical data, including probing depth and bleeding on probing.

Main Results:

• Clinical data showed a mean probing depth reduction of 0.34 ± 0.54 mm and a significant decrease in bleeding rate.
• Digital analysis revealed a mean loss in gingival height of 0.196 ± 0.188 mm and width of 0.344 ± 0.338 mm.
• These digital measurements indicated post-treatment gingival tissue shrinkage.

Conclusions:

• Superimposition of STL files enables accurate quantification of periodontal tissue changes after SRP.
• Digital analysis detected gingival tissue shrinkage in both height and width post-treatment.
• This digital approach provides insights not discernible with conventional measurement techniques.