A periodontal probe with automated cemento-enamel detection-design and clinical trials

An automated periodontal probe has been developed to measure pocket depth and attachment loss in a single measurement under controlled force conditions. A natural anatomic landmark, the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ), is used as a reference for attachment-level measurements. The CEJ is detected automatically by immediate digital postprocessing of simultaneous measurements of probe-tip acceleration and displacement during probing. Clinical trials in the beagle dog model for naturally occurring periodontitis have shown that the automated probe, when used with 35-g probing force, has a repeatability of 0.13 mm and a bias of 0.09 mm, indicating that the automated periodontal probe is capable of attachment-level measurements with a high degree of repeatability and validity.