Dental and Periodontal Charting

Dental and periodontal charting provides the graphic details of the conditions in a patient’s mouth, combine caries restorations, missing or malposed teeth, clinical attachment levels, furcation root involvement, mobility, pocket depths, bleeding sites, and other deviations from normal. Other conditions that may be charted include erosion, abrasion, developmental anomalies and use of prostheses. Dental charting is the part of both initial and periodic dental examinations and is included in the cost of care. Exams are normally covered by dental insurance. Dental charting is a process in which your dental healthcare professional lists and describes the health of your teeth and gums. Periodontal charting, which is a part of your dental chart, refers to the six measurements in millimeters that are taken around each tooth.

What does dental charting include?

• Charting begins with tooth naming and numbering. The maxillary or upper arch and the mandibular, or lower arch, each contain 16 teeth in a full adult dentition.
• Teeth are paired right and left by size, shape, and function. Starting at the midline every arch includes two central incisors side by side.
• Regular outward to right and left are pairs of lateral incisors, canines (cuspids), first premolars 1^st  bicuspids, second premolars 2^nd cuspids first molars, 2^nd molars, and third molars (wisdom teeth).
• Periodontal charting refers to a chart utilized by a licensed dental care professional to write and record gingival and overall oral conditions relating to oral and periodontal health or disease. A periodontal examination is a clinical examination of the periodontium (gums).
• It is routinely carried out in dentistry and allied specialties. Many different techniques are used around the world.