PMT
Also written as: PMT — Periodontal Maintenance Therapy
Abbreviation for Periodontal Maintenance Therapy, the long-term supportive recall programme for patients following active periodontal treatment.
Full Definition
PMT (Periodontal Maintenance Therapy) is the abbreviated form used in dental research to denote the structured programme of regular professional visits and debridement provided to patients after active periodontal treatment is concluded. In manuscripts, PMT is sometimes used interchangeably with SPT (supportive periodontal therapy), and editors should enforce terminological consistency within any given document. The abbreviation should be expanded at first use, and any operational definition—such as the frequency of visits or the procedures included—should be stated clearly in the methods. PMT is a recurrent subject in longitudinal periodontal studies, where patient compliance with the programme is often reported as a covariate. Editors should be alert to authors using 'maintenance' loosely to refer to home oral hygiene rather than professional recall, which is the standard clinical meaning.
Usage
Usage note: Expand at first use. Do not confuse with 'PMT' used in other medical fields to mean premenstrual tension.
In Context
- "Patients assigned to the PMT group attended four-monthly professional debridement sessions throughout the 18-month study period." — Study design section of a periodontal clinical trial
- "Compliance with PMT was defined as attendance at ≥75% of scheduled recall visits." — Methods section defining patient compliance criteria