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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Apr 18.
Published in final edited form as: J Calif Dent Assoc. 2013 Feb;41(2):119–124.

Figure 1. Bleeding on probing in the diagnosis of periodontal diseases.

Figure 1

Figure 1

Clinical periodontal evaluation involves visual assessment of the gingival tissue and sulcus/pocket probing. The absence of bleeding upon probing is an excellent negative predictor of disease activity (left). The presence of bleeding on probing over-estimates the risk for further tissue breakdown (right) but it is still widely used in clinical practice because a better predictor has not been identified.