Depth of Gingival Sulcus in Healthy Children with Erupting Permanent Teeth

Measuring the gingival sulcus depth in children while their permanent teeth erupt is rather difficult especially if using reference norms for adults for a base.

Assessment of the depth of the gingival sulcus during the period of tooth eruption in healthy children.

Thirty children were included in the study (age range 6 - 14 yrs). The children had good oral hygiene and no history of systemic disease. They were clinically examined - their dental statuses were taken, stages of permanent teeth eruption (up to 1/3 of the clinical crown, between 1/3 and 2/3, over 2/3, in occlusion contact), and their gingival sulcus depth was measured at 6 distovestibular, vestibular, mesiovestibular, mesiolingual, lingual, and distolingual sites using an electronic probe Parometer (Orange). It was concluded that the one with the highest value would be considered the maximum depth of the sulcus.

The gingival sulcus depth in fully erupted teeth is very similar to that in healthy adults (2.20 - 0.49 mm). The change of sulcus depth in incisors and canines has a variation of 1.5 mm, which at the end of eruption is close to those in adults. Maximum sulcus depth for molars, premolars and incisors was measured distovestibularly, and for canines - mesiovestibularly.

At the various stages of eruption, the depth of the gingival sulcus plausibly decreases in all tooth types, and by the end of eruption it reaches a depth similar to that of the adult standard. Most indicative in regard to depth are the vestibular probing point.