Refer to Section 6 of the full guidance
The key to successful prevention and treatment of periodontal diseases is life-long effective personal oral hygiene.
Life-long preventive professional care may be necessary for the patient to maintain healthy gingival tissues.
Regular reinforcement of the importance of effective plaque removal and, where applicable, smoking cessation advice is also required.
In patients who have no history of periodontitis, each routine appointment should comprise assessment and, if appropriate, treatment as follows:
Patients with periodontitis who have successfully responded to treatment, signified by marked improvement in oral hygiene, reduced bleeding on probing and a considerable reduction in probing depths from baseline, are maintained by a long term programme of supportive therapy.
Each recall appointment should comprise assessment and treatment as follows:
N.B. Patients with periodontitis who respond successfully to non-surgical treatment and supportive periodontal therapy (probing depths of ≤3 mm and minimal bleeding on probing) may be transferred to dental prophylaxis. These patients no longer require annual full periodontal charting but should any recurrence of disease be detected by BPE screening, further non-surgical and supportive therapy will be required.