How To Use the Perio Chart in Dentrix (Full Tutorial + Tips for Hygienists
If you’ve ever felt like the Dentrix Perio Chart has a lot of hidden settings and small details that aren’t obvious at first… you’re not alone. On the surface, perio charting seems simple — but once you get into recession, CAL, furcation involvement, bleeding, mobility, and measurements over 9mm, things can get confusing fast.
In this walkthrough, I’ll show you how to:
Open and set up the perio chart
Customize what you see on-screen
Enter pocket depths, recession, and attachment loss
Chart bleeding — quickly
Add furcations, mobility, and bone loss
Enter measurements over 9mm
Use the Graphic Chart + Exam Comparison for patient education
Fix it when your Perio Panel disappears
My goal is to help you chart perio faster, more accurately, and with less frustration — whether you work solo or have an assistant recording your numbers.
A Quick Note for Hygienists Who Temp
If you temp (or are even thinking about it), I personally use Teero and really like it. You can see open shifts, read reviews from other hygienists, and view details like appointment length and software used — which really helps you feel prepared walking into a new office.
It’s W-2 (not 1099), and pay is direct-deposited — often same-day. If you want to check it out: https://tr.ee/wyzmUQwNvB
Okay — now let’s get into perio charting
Opening the Perio Chart in Dentrix
From the patient chart, click the Perio Chart icon.
You’ll notice:
If the icon background is gray → no previous perio chart exists
If the icon background is blue → the patient already has perio charting
Once you open it, you’re ready to set up how your perio chart behaves.
Setting Up Entry Preferences (Skip Logic + Navigation)
Go to:
Setup → Entry Settings Setup
Here’s where you can tell Dentrix to automatically skip:
Missing teeth
Pontics
Impacted teeth
Un-erupted teeth
This saves you SO much time. You can also adjust the Perio Navigation Script, which controls the order Dentrix moves through sites as you chart.
If you don’t love the default navigation, you can create your own.
Customizing the Perio Display (Colors + Red-Flag Limits)
Go to:
Setup → Perio Display Setup
Here you can change:
Colors
Labels
Red-flag thresholds
Whether 4mm or 5mm starts alerting red
What shows on screen during data entry
Most offices stick with the Dentrix defaults — but if you want your display to match your practice calibration style, this is where you do it.
Understanding the Perio Panel (Your Main Charting Hub)
On the right-hand side, you’ll see the Perio Panel. This is where you can enter or edit:
Pocket depths
Gingival margin (recession)
Clinical attachment loss
Bleeding points
Mobility
Furcation involvement
Bone loss
Entering recession automatically calculates CAL, which is such a time-saver and ensures consistent accuracy.
You can:
Click on-screen
Type values using the keyboard
Press B to add bleeding at the last recorded site
Use dropdowns for furcation involvement
And everything updates in real-time on the chart.
Charting Bleeding Points (Fast + Efficient)
You can add bleeding:
By clicking each site
By pressing B on the keyboard
Or — my favorite — selecting multiple teeth at once
Click and drag your cursor across selected teeth, then choose:
Interproximal bleeding
Center bleeding
Or all bleeding points
This is a game-changer when you see patients with 100% bleeding (hello, new-patient perio rebuilds 😅).
Clearing All Bleeding From a Previous Exam
Dentrix now has a Clear Previous Bleeding button — and it’s amazing.
If a patient returns for SRP re-eval, you don’t have to manually remove every bleeding site. Just click once and start fresh.
Entering Pocket Depths Over 9mm (10–12mm Pockets)
If your patient has:
10mm
11mm
12mm pockets
Use the greater-than key option in the Perio Panel. Then type the second digit.
For example:
Click “>” → then press 2 → Dentrix records a 12mm pocket
On the chart, it will show >9, and the exact value appears in the panel.
Using the Graphic Chart for Patient Education
Go to:
View → Graphic Chart
This gives patients a visual, which is incredibly powerful when explaining disease severity and treatment needs.
Comparing Perio Exams (Pre- vs Post-SRP)
Go to:
View → Exam Comparison
Select the dates you want to compare and Dentrix will show:
Green arrows for improvement
Red arrows for decline
Patients may not always understand numbers…
…but they definitely understand arrows showing progress — and this is HUGE for motivation.
What To Do If Your Perio Panel Disappears
This one trips people up a lot 🙋♀️
If your Perio Panel is missing:
View → Perio Panel
…and it comes right back.
You can also open Clinical Notes from here if you want to read past perio notes while you chart.
Switching Perio Chart Scripts (Pocket Depth → Gingival Margin)
Under Script, you can toggle between:
Dentrix Default
Gingival Margin
Custom scripts you’ve added
I personally chart:
Pocket depths first
Then switch to Gingival Margin to enter recession
CAL is calculated automatically
It keeps things clean and consistent.
Final Thoughts
The Dentrix Perio Chart is incredibly powerful — but only when you know how to use all the tools available. Once you get comfortable with navigation scripts, display settings, multi-site bleeding tools, and measurement shortcuts, perio charting becomes faster, smoother, and more accurate.
If you found this helpful, make sure to check out the full video tutorial — and subscribe if you like learning practical Dentrix tips and dental tech workflows. I release new tutorials every week 💙
Have questions? Drop them in the comments — I love hearing what you want to learn next.