By collecting the Periodontal Screening Index (PSI), dentists can easily determine the severity of periodontitis (inflammation of the periodontium) as part of routine examinations and initiate therapeutic measures at an early stage if treatment is needed. The PSI was developed in the 1990s. While it has been a mandatory part of every routine dental examination in the Netherlands for a number of years, in Germany it has been included in the catalog of statutory health insurance schemes since 2004 and can be collected at two-year intervals for children and adults.
Indications (areas of application)
- Routine screening of periodontal health status of all patients.
- For early initiation of periodontal therapy.
- For progress monitoring after successful periodontal therapy in the context of supportive periodontal therapy (UPT).
- For early detection of a relapse (a recurrence of periodontal disease).
Contraindications
- None
The procedures
I. Adults
- To survey the PSI, each jaw is first divided into three sections: both posterior regions and the anterior region. For the entire dentition, this results in six sections, called sextants:
Sextant | Jaw section |
S1 | Upper right molars |
S2 | Top anterior region |
S3 | Upper left molars |
S4 | Molar teeth lower left |
S5 | Lower anterior region |
S6 | Molar teeth lower right |
- On each tooth, the probing depth of the gingival pocket is determined by carefully probing at up to six points with a WHO probe (World Health Organization probe: rounded at the tip and provided with a special scale), and the bleeding tendency is ascertained by gently stroking in the gingival sulcus (depression running circularly around the tooth between the tooth and gum).
- For each sextant, only the worst value is entered in a special findings chart:
PSI code | Probing depth | Bleeding tendency |
|
Therapy |
0 | < 3.5 mm | none | none | Recall (regular control) |
1 | <3.5 mm | Bleeding | None |
|
2 | <3.5 mm | possibly | present |
|
3 | > 3.5 mm to < 5.5 mm | Suspected mild to moderate periodontitis, therefore:
|
||
4 | > 5.5 mm | Suspected moderate to severe periodontitis, therefore:
|
II. children
Periodontal disease (disease of the periodontium) may occur as early as childhood. Because this early form of periodontitis begins on the first molars (first posterior molars, six-year molars) and incisivi (incisors), measurement in children is limited to teeth 11, 31, and the six-year molars.
According to the procedure
After the PSI has been obtained, further therapeutic measures are initiated if the findings are appropriate.
Possible complications
- None