[Instrumentation for periodontal treatment].

Since the introduction of scalers in the beginning of the century for the mechanical removal of plaque, instruments with few major modifications are still in clinical use today. New approaches in diagnosis of periodontal disease such as microbiological analysis, enzyme diagnosis of crevicular fluid or computer-aided procedures are presently in clinical trials. A set of periodontal instruments is presented which has been well established and is recommended for the treatment of periodontal disease. The discussion of the specific instruments is presented according to the sequence of patient treatment, which is divided into diagnosis, initial therapy, scaling and root planing, periodontal surgery and maintenance therapy.