The goal of periodontal diagnostic procedures is to provide useful information to the clinician regarding the present periodontal disease type, location and severity. These findings serve as a basis for treatment planning and provide essential data during periodontal maintenance and disease monitoring phases of the treatment.The ideal goal of diagnostic procedures is the earliest possible identification of the disease process. Conventional efforts evaluating inflammation and past evidence of tissue breakdown remain the standard for disease evaluation. However, evaluation cannot reliably identify sites with ongoing periodontal destruction and does not provide any information of the cause of the condition and the patient's susceptibility to the disease, whether the disease is progressing, or is in remission or whether the response to the therapy will be positive or negative. Currently, there is considerable interest in the development, testing and commercial application of novel diagnostic tests. Computer based image acquisition and processing techniques have now increased the importance of radiography in periodontal diagnosis.
