Reliability of Bleeding and Non-Bleeding on Probing to Gingival Histological Features

AbstractGiven the extensive use in periodontal diagnosis of the clinical sign of bleeding onprobing, the reliability of the technique in relation to gingival histological featuresand the need for a better understanding of its significance was investigated. Bleed-ing (B) and non-bleeding (NB) buccal gingival tissues, were measured throughmanual probing during gingivectomy procedures. The histological evidence ofinflammation was used as the gold standard. The established histological descrip-tive patterns showed statistically significant differences between B and NB sites ( 2 = 20.842, p 0.05). We conclude that the clinicalparameter of bleeding on probing is a reliable tool for diagnosing gingival inflam-mation, whereas the clinical sign of non-bleeding on probing is not a safe criteriafor evaluating gingival health.Key words: Periodontal diagnosis, histological analysis, clinical analysis,probingCorrespondence to: Prof. Dra. Patricia Helena Rodriguesde Souza, Rua 28, numero 1.341, CEP: 4780-110 Barretos,Sao Paulo, Brazil. E-mail: patricia@barretos.com.br