Asked for Dental NHS Scale and Polish.Told "Go to Hygienist at £25 extra"

boozercruiser

welshdent wrote: »

BPE is a basic periodontal examination which is in effect a screening for the different levels of gum disease. The mouth is divided in to sextants i.e. top left 4th tooth to 7th, middle 3 to 3 then right 4th to 7th. This is repeated on the bottom. All the teeth present are scored with a standardised probe and the highest score in the area is what makes up the overall score in that area.

Code 0 No bleeding or pocketing detected 1 Bleeding on probing - no pocketing greater than 3.5mm. 2 Plaque retentive factors present - no pocketing greater than 3.5mm. 3 Pockets greater than 3.5mm but less than 5.5mm in depth. 4 Pockets greater than 5.5 mm in depth
A plaque retentive factor is calculus, an overhanging filling or maybe a defective frown margin. 2 also refers to staining. There is also a * score which referrs to recession over a certain level (7mm) or if the area where the roots split from the crown of the tooth (furcation) is abel to be probed and therefor exposed

Ideally from there we would switch to a 6 point pocket chart where every single tooth is recorded individually but I do not know many NHS or even fully private practitioners that do this routinely. I tend to reserve it for more advanced cases because most of what I find i need is covered with the BPE and x rays

Well, I and am sure pretty well everyone reading this will have learned something really interesting. After all, nearly everyone has TEETH!:D

Perhaps this should be a subject in School somewhere, but it would have been nice if some Dentist in the past would have explained this to me.

So now I know. BPE is........

BASIC PERIODICAL EXAMINATION!

Perhaps I should have worked that out for myself!:D....

But then, I still wouldn't have known what the various ratings inside it where...............But I do now...thanks to you Welshdent.:T

thacky

So now I know. BPE is........

BASIC PERIODICAL EXAMINATION!

No , read again, it is PERIODONTAL not periodical!

Toothsmith

Should've gone to Specsavers!

boozercruiser

thacky wrote: »

So now I know. BPE is........

BASIC PERIODICAL EXAMINATION!

No , read again, it is PERIODONTAL not periodical!

:blushing::o:rotfl:

boozercruiser

Toothsmith wrote: »

Should've gone to Specsavers!

:eek::laugh::huh::)

"BPE is a basic periodontal examination which is in effect a screening for the different levels of gum disease."

George_Bray

welshdent wrote: »

no pocketing greater than 3.5mm. 3 Pockets greater than 3.5mm but less than 5.5mm in depth. 4 Pockets greater than 5.5 mm in depth

Which dimension is being measured, please? 3.5mm let alone 5.5mm is quite a lot. Presumably, one should be able to see something in a mirror. What should I look for?

jugglebug

George_Bray wrote: »

Which dimension is being measured, please? 3.5mm let alone 5.5mm is quite a lot. Presumably, one should be able to see something in a mirror. What should I look for?

It is the depth of the pocket between the gum and its attachment to tooth, so not visible in a mirror
google cpitn probe, should get an image of a ball ended probe with some black bands on it
This is placed between the tooth and the gum.
In healthy state sometimes you can't even fit the ball in (the ball is 0.5mm in diameter)
as a pocket forms you can slip the probe down further until the black line is reached (BPE 3)
As it gets even worse the black band disappears totally
(BPE 4)

edit.
not a great page but there is an useful image showing the position of the probe.
http://www.dralbers.com/periodontistsantarosa.htm

thacky

Toothsmith wrote: »

Should've gone to Specsavers!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Fork86

welshdent wrote: »

A plaque retentive factor is calculus, an overhanging filling or maybe a defective crown margin. 2 also refers to staining.

Sorry Welshdent, staining does not constitute a score of any kind on the BPE.

That is why patients can be charged for a 'private' scale and polish to remove stains, as staining is not something that 'needs' to be removed.

welshdent

I know officially it doesnt but we were always taught to consider it as a notional "2" and thats how I look at it. I completely agree it doesnt NEED to be removed for health reasons. I am just trying to explain a few tit bits that we take for granted which the public at large do not always know about. If the only thing pointed out is staining then I may be doing quite well