Diagnostics
To tell whether you have periodontitis and how severe it is, your dentist may:
- Review your medical history to identify any factors that could be linked to your symptoms. Examples include smoking or taking certain medicines that cause dry mouth.
- Examine your mouth to look for plaque and tartar buildup and check for easy bleeding.
- Measure how deep the pockets are between your gums and teeth by placing a tiny ruler called a dental probe between your teeth and gumline. Pockets are measured at several places in your upper and lower gums. In a healthy mouth, the pocket depth is usually between 1 and 3 millimeters (mm). Pockets deeper than 4 mm may indicate periodontitis. Pockets deeper than 5 mm cannot be cleaned well with routine care.
- Take dental X-rays to check for bone loss in areas where your dentist sees deeper pockets.
What is a digital X-ray?
A digital X-ray, or digital radiography, is a modern type of X-ray that utilizes digital sensors instead of photographic film, as with a traditional X-ray. The image captured is converted to digital data immediately and is available for review within seconds.
Digital X-rays, much like traditional X-rays, allow the doctor to examine inside a patient’s body. This may be useful to observe the extent of the damage done during an injury, including bone breaks and fractures. They can also detect masses in soft tissue, which could lead to the discovery of a tumour or other illnesses.
Digital X-rays are of particular interest in dentistry, where the rapid availability of the results means that a dentist can enhance the images by controlling the exposure in real time and therefore can obtain clear and detailed results that can be shared with the patient immediately. The clarity of digital X-rays makes them superior to traditional X-rays in terms of finding tiny fractures and imperfections in the teeth.
What is OPG X-Ray?
An OPG (Orthopantomagram) is a panoramic scanning dental X-ray of the upper and lower jaw. It is also sometimes called by the proprietary name Orthopantomagraph or Panorex. It shows a flattened two-dimensional view of a half-circle from ear to ear. Panoramic x-rays allow images of multiple angles to be taken to make up the composite panoramic image, where the maxilla (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw) are in the viewed area. The structures that are outside the viewed area are blurred. At some stage in your dental treatment, your dentist will likely take an OPG.