The correlation between the bone probing, radiographic and histometric measurements of bone level after regenerative surgery

Background and objective: The most accurate method of assessing bone level is to elevate the flap and measure the bone level directly. However, this method causes discomfort to the patient and can damage the tissues. Therefore, many studies have been conducted to find an alternative method that can be used to assess the bone level clinically with accuracy and reliability. In the present study, we evaluated the clinical reliability and accuracy of bone probing and radiographic measurements, by comparing the bone levels obtained by both of these measurement techniques with the histometrically confirmed bone levels, after four different kinds of regenerative therapy. Methods: Twenty-four intrabony defects (4 x 4 mm one-wall intrabony defects) were surgically created bilaterally in the mandibular second and fourth premolars of six beagle dogs. The control group underwent a conventional flap operation. The graft group was treated with calcium phosphate glass only, the guided tissue regeneration group was treated with guided tissue regeneration only, and the graft + guided tissue regeneration group was treated with calcium phosphate glass and guided tissue regeneration. Bone probing and radiographic measurements were performed to assess the bone level 8 weeks after the operation and then the subjects were killed to perform the histometric measurements. The correlation between the bone probing depths and the histometric bone levels, and that between the radiographic bone levels and the histometric bone levels were analyzed by Spearman's rank correlation analysis. The statistical significance with respect to the type of regenerative therapy was analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: The difference between the bone probing depth and the histometric bone level measurements was 0.14, and that between the radiographic bone level and histometric bone level was 0.6. The coefficient of correlation between the bone probing depth and the histometric bone level was 0.90, and that between the radiographic bone level and the histometric bone level was 0.73. The type of regenerative therapy had no significant effect on the difference between the histometric bone level and the other measurements. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that the bone probing measurement may be a reliable method for the assessment of the actual bone level following any type of periodontal regenerative therapy.