The Use Of Specially Designed Probe Versus Cone- Beam Computerized Tomography In The Measurement Of Gingival Thickness: Diagnostic Accuracy Study

The success of the esthetic outcome for the anterior teeth restorations and periodontal surgeries depends on several factors such as the gingival biotype, teeth alignment and architecture of the gingiva.

The first who introduced the term biotype are Seibert and Lindhe 1989, they categorized the gingiva to ''thick-flat'' and ''thin-scalloped'' biotypes . Thick biotype is associated with broad tissue and flat gingiva which is also supported by thick bony plate. Thin biotype is associated with thin band of keratinized tissue and scalloped gingiva which is supported by thin bony plate.

A gingival thickness of more or equal to 2 mm is defined as thick biotype and a gingival thickness of less than 1.5 mm as thin biotype. Different gingival biotypes response in different ways to inflammation, restorative and periodontal surgery .

The gingival thickness may predict the outcome of periodontal and restorative treatments. For implant surgery, implant in thin biotype will lead to future peri-implant mucosal recession . The gingival thickness affects the treatment outcome possibly because of the difference in the amount of blood supply of the underlying bone and susceptibility to resorption .

Multiple techniques were proposed to measure the tissue thickness , such as direct measurement ultrasonic devices probe transparency method and cone-beam computed tomography scan