Dentrix Ideas

Within the 2017 AAP classification of periodontitis, clinical attachment LOSS is a key defining criteria for the staging aspect of the diagnosis. "CAL" on perio charting, such as in dentrix, is typically used to mean clinical attachment LEVEL. With the current perio charting settings on Dentrix, it is not possible to input a negative number for the gingival margin. This is critical to accurately determine the amount of clinical attachment loss, and if a negative GM mesurement can be used, this would allow for the clinical attachment level equal any clinical attachment loss. For example, if a tooth has a 5mm PD with 2mm of recession, the GM measurement should be positive, then the CAL would equal 7mm. This is the correct amount of attachment loss for this tooth. However, if the tooth has a 5mm PD and the gingival margin is 2mm coronal to the CEJ, the GM measurement should be -2, and therefore the CAL would be 3mm. Or if a tooth as no attachment loss, you would expect the charting to be like 3mm PD and -3mm GM and thus, CAL would be 0mm. Without the ability to input a negative for the GM, the Dentrix perio charting can only account for recession adding to the level of attachment loss and if you input 0 for the GM (which truly means the GM is level with the CEJ) it falsely inflates the amount of actual attachment loss. If the code could be rewritten to allow for the addition of negatives in the GM block and for the CAL calculator to properly sum positive and negative values, this would allow for more accurate perio charting and easier and more accurate diagnosis in accordance with the current AAP classification.