Objectives: To determine the in vitro probing pressures used amongst an undergraduate population.
Methods: A cohort of 79 University of Manchester Undergraduate Dental Students (UMUDS) in their third year of study were asked to use a WHO-621 probe to blindly depress a top-pan balance using the pressure that they would use when probing patients clinically for periodontal purposes. The assessment was performed during an OSCE style examination. The clinically active students had no previous training in applying probing pressures and verbally identified to the examiner (AR) when they were probing with ‘the correct pressure'.
Results: A broad range of probing pressures was observed amongst the 79 students (range 3.5 – 796g). The mean probing pressure for the cohort examined was 106.1g±13.8. Excluding those undergraduates who probed in excess of 150g (n=16; 20.3%) the most frequent observation when dividing the probing pressures into 5g cohorts was 20-25g (n=14; 17.7%). Overall, 61 of the 79 undergraduates (77.2%) applied a pressure in excess of the accepted range with 4 undergraduates (5.1%) ‘under-probing'.
Conclusion: The majority of UMUDS assessed in this study (82.3%) failed to probe at a pressure considered to be within the accepted range of 20-25g. If the results of this in vitro study are a reflection of periodontal pressures used on patients, then many UMUDS are using excessive probing forces that may be traumatising the periodontal tissues. Whilst patients would not tolerate some of the probing pressures in this study, it is clear that undergraduates will require guidance and training as part of any curriculum.