Patent ID: 8267689

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of describing a periodontal disease state, comprising: receiving multiple inputs for each of a plurality of portions of a dentition, the inputs being based on observations of periodontal tissues for each portion of the dentition; assigning a severity diagnoses to the portions of the dentition, the severity diagnoses corresponding to periodontal disease states and being based on the received inputs based on the observations of the periodontal tissues and a predetermined correlation between a combination of observations of the periodontal tissues and a severity diagnosis; assigning, using a computer system configured to calculate a raw score and determine a disease score using a look up table, numeric values to the portions of the dentition, the numeric values corresponding to the severity diagnoses for each of the portions of the dentition, wherein the numeric values corresponding to the severity diagnoses differ based on the number of dentulous portions of the dentition; calculating, using the computer system configured to calculate the raw score and determine the disease score using a look up table, the raw score based on the numeric values assigned to the portions of the dentition; and using the look up table to determine the disease score based on the raw score, the disease score corresponding to a periodontal disease state of the dentition and being based on the periodontal disease states of multiple different portions of the dentition, wherein the disease score describes both the severity and the extent of periodontal disease in the dentition.