The color of human gingiva and mucosa: visual measurement and description of distribution

No soft tissue shade guide is available for matching the color of denture resins to human intraoral soft tissues. To determine the color of both the gingiva and the alveolar mucosa, intraoral soft tissue colors of 150 men and women were assessed under standardized lighting conditions. Colors of the papilla, attached gingiva, and alveolar mucosa in the central incisor region of the maxilla and mandible were examined using Munsell color tabs and their corresponding notations (value, hue, chroma). Statistical evaluation was performed by using frequency tables and multiple regression (level of significance p=0.05). Color ratings for the maxillary interincisal papilla lay in the yellow hue spectrum. A high incidence of ratings was found between 7/6 2.5R and 7/4 5R (Munsell color notations). Two further peaks were identified for the colors 3/6 2.5 R and 8/4 10R. Five peaks with the highest frequency of ratings were present with regard to the color of the mucosa in the maxillary incisal region: 6/6 2.5R, 7/6 2.5R, 6/8 5R, 5/8 7.5RP, and 5/6 10RP. In the mandible, a similar pattern was found. Using the results from visual matching tests, five color frequency peaks were identified. They could be used to construct an intraoral soft tissue shade guide.