Current status and perspectives of mucogingival soft tissue measurement methods

The morphologic and metric assessment of mucogingival soft tissue dimensions is of great multidisciplinary clinical and academic interest, in order to quantify and monitor gingival changes while in treatment, e.g., during periodontal, restorative, prosthetic, orthodontic, or implant therapy. Pink esthetics play an increasingly important role in the overall treatment success, and therefore have to be monitored throughout therapy. The purpose of this article was to identify and summarize methods, which aim at quantifying gingival dimensions in terms of morphology, thickness, and volume, with respect to their accuracy and practicability. The introduced measurement methods should further facilitate personalized treatment planning and monitoring.

Mucogingival esthetics play an increasingly important role whenever treatment results are evaluated. Several qualitative and (semi)quantitative methods for measuring soft tissue dimensions are available. New methods like CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing) technologies are emerging and allow practitioners to reliably monitor their patient's soft tissues throughout therapy. Future improvements may help to develop better treatment strategies in terms of optimized preservation and creation of gingival morphology, especially in the esthetic zone.