Beyond the Numbers: What Periodontal Charting Is Actually Telling You
Most hygienists chart probing depths. Far fewer chart everything else — and that gap is costing your patients and your practice. In this 50-minute session, Sandi Synstad, RDH shares what 40 years in dental hygiene taught her about reading a perio chart the right way: why depth alone can't diagnose disease, how bleeding on probing tells you what's happening today, and how to turn every number into a story your patient actually understands.
What you'll learn
Why probing depth alone can't diagnose gum disease — and why a 6mm pocket with no bleeding is healthier than a 4mm pocket that bleeds every visit
How to use bleeding on probing as your most powerful data point — including how to set a "healthy number" your patients can work toward, the way a doctor gives you a cholesterol target
What recession, mobility, and furcations each reveal about attachment loss, occlusal trauma, and long-term prognosis
Why historical data changes everything — 32 bleeding sites means one thing after 87, and something very different after 4
How complete documentation supports better insurance reimbursement and makes the call between a prophy and a therapeutic scaling obvious
How to explain findings so patients say yes — simple analogies for inflammation, sensitivity, and night guards
How voice-activated charting captures all five data points hands-free, auto-counts bleeding sites, and generates a 3D patient report
