Assessment of gingival thickness with regards to age, gender and arch location

There is a considerable intra and inter-individual variation in both width and thickness of the facial gingiva. As the attached gingiva is an important anatomic and functional landmark in the periodontium, the identification of gingival biotype is important in clinical practice since differences in gingival and osseous architecture have been shown to exhibit a significant impact on the outcome of restorative therapy. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the variation in width and thickness of facial gingiva in the anterior segment with respect to age, gender and dental arch location.

120 subjects were divided into three age groups: The younger age group (16-24 years), the middle age group (25-39 years) and the older age group (>40 years) with 20 males and 20 females in each group. The width of the gingiva was assessed by William's graduated probe and the thickness was determined using transgingival probing in the maxillary and mandibular anterior segment.

It was observed that the younger age group had significantly thicker gingiva but less width than that of the older age group. The gingiva was found to be thinner and with less width in females than males. The mandibular arch had thicker gingiva with less width compared to the maxillary arch.

In the present study, we concluded that gingival thickness and width varies with age, gender and dental arch location.