How do you detect and measure recession?

• A. 1) feel difference where enamel is and where CEJ begins; 2) measure GM to CEJ
• B. Visual inspection only
• C. Measure from GM to CEJ
• D. Use only radiographs

Answer: (A)

Detecting and measuring recession relies on using a fixed reference point—the CEJ—to quantify how far the gingival margin has receded. Because the CEJ isn’t always visible under inflamed or stained tissue, you locate it by feeling where the enamel ends and the cementum begins along the root surface. Once you’ve pinpointed the CEJ, you measure the distance from the gingival margin to that CEJ with a periodontal probe. This GM-to-CEJ distance is the recession depth.

Relying on visual inspection alone can miss or misidentify the CEJ, and radiographs don’t reliably show soft-tissue margins, so they can’t substitute for the clinical GM-to-CEJ measurement. The combination of locating the CEJ by feel and then measuring to it provides an accurate recession assessment.