A dentist examination question.

[Quarterly]

I've been meaning to ask this for a while now. Last year my dentist moved away and we got a new one. She does the same as the last dentist by checking while counting the teeth while her assistant makes notes. Then at some point she pushed what felt like a needle in to my gum which was very unpleasant and reported to the assistant that 'the gums are bleeding'. (I'm not bloody surprised are you!)

My son and wife have also visited the same dentist recently and she did the same thing to them. I'm interested to know if this is a new or recommended dental examination procedure, because apart from being unpleasant, it seems very invasive to me, can't really be right, can it?

Thanks for your time.

[Rollin]

BPE or Basic Periodontal Examination.

An assessment of the health of your gums.

It's not new at all.

A ball ended probe is used to check for pocketing between the tooth and gum (amongst other things)

Bleeding indicates sub optimal oral hygiene.

Edited by Rollin on Tuesday 19th December 17:49

[darker grapefruit]

Google search suggests:-

"Where the gum and the tooth meet isn’t actually where they attach — they are attached further down. This creates a small pocket, which you can picture like a moat all the way around your tooth.

It might feel like you’re getting pricked, but what’s actually happening is a small probe is being inserted into that pocket. Sticking this probe in between the gum and tooth lets the dentist see if the gum bleeds and oozes on its own if touched or flossed".

(I am not a dentist)

[Quarterly]

Thats a relief, thank you. I have changed from tooth brush to electric, so hopefully my gums will improve.