Abstract
Introduction
Gingival phenotype determination enables a better understanding of intra and interindividual clinical variations in healthy periodontal tissues.
Objective
The aim of this study was to determine gingival phenotype profiles and compare these in different regions of the oral cavity, considering clinical parameters related to the surrounding soft tissue in the upper and lower front teeth.
Material and method
Ninety-one periodontally-healthy patients were examined and clinical parameters such as probing depth (PD), keratinized tissue width (KW), gingival thickness at both maxillary central incisors (GT) and gingival phenotype (GP) were determined for the upper and lower front teeth. Data were statistically analyzed by paired and independent t-Student tests, Pearson Correlation and the Chi-square test, using a significance level of 5%.
Result
The thick gingival phenotype predominated in the upper anterior teeth (60.5%), while the thin phenotype was more prevalent in the lower anterior teeth (84.6%). Statistically significant differences were found for keratinized tissue and gingival thickness parameters, in relation to the upper and lower gingival phenotypes (p<0.05). There were no statistical significances for probing depth and gingival phenotype in the upper and lower teeth.
Conclusion
It was concluded that the thick phenotype is more frequent in the upper anterior teeth and that the thin phenotype is more common in the lower anterior teeth, and more frequent in males. The keratinized tissue and gingival thickness parameters proved to be suitable for the determination of gingival phenotype.
Descriptors:
Periodontics; gingiva; phenotype; diagnosis