COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF ACCURACY AND REPRODUCIBILITY OF PROBING DEPTH MEASUREMENT WITH UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA-15, COMMUNITY PERIODONTAL INDEX OF TREATMENT NEEDS AND PRESSURE-SENSITIVE PERIODONTAL PROBES.

Background: This in vitro study which aims to compare the accuracy and reproducibility of probing depth measurements between conventional University of North Carolina-15, Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs and pressure-sensitive periodontal probes.Materials and Methods: Ninety undergraduate and postgraduate dental students participated in the study.A custom-built aluminum box with 16 precision-engineered holes (depths 2.5- 10 mm) was used. Participants were trained and familiarized with probes where they measured the depths using the three types of probes and repeated the measurements within 10 days. Mean depths and standard deviations were calculated and compared for accuracy and reproducibility. Results: The pressure-sensitive probe demonstrated the highest accuracy in measuring the depths of the engineered holes compared to the UNC-15 and CPITN probes.There were no significant (p>0.005) differences in reproducibility among the three probes. Conclusion: Pressure-sensitive probes offer superior accuracy in periodontal depth measurement, though all probes show good reproducibility.This makes them suitable alternatives to conventional probes,particularly in settings where precision is critical.