Assessment of periodontal condition using basic periodontal examination scores: A retrospective clinical study

Early detection of periodontal diseases remains inadequate in routine clinical practice, particularly in resource-limited settings where comprehensive periodontal assessment is often not feasible. Periodontal diseases represent a significant global oral health burden, with gingivitis and chronic periodontitis affecting substantial proportions of the adult population. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the periodontal status of patients attending a tertiary dental care facility in Durg district, Chhattisgarh, India, utilizing the Basic Periodontal Examination (BPE) as a standardized screening instrument. Hence, a total of 999 patient records were analyzed, with periodontal evaluation performed using a World Health Organization periodontal probe across six dental sextants per individual. The study population showed a female predominance (58.6%) with a mean age of 31.4 ± 14.2 years. Results revealed that the majority of participants exhibited early-stage periodontal involvement, with 38% demonstrating mean BPE scores between 1.0 and 1.9, indicative of gingival inflammation with bleeding on probing. Thus, we show the high prevalence of early periodontal disease in this regional population and validate the utility of BPE as an efficient, practical screening instrument for community-based periodontal health assessment and timely therapeutic intervention.