Correlación entre biotipo gingival, ancho y grosor de encía adherida en zona estética del maxilar superior

To perform different dental procedures it is currently necessary to make a correct assessment of periodontal biotype, using the right tools that allow its thickness to be accurately measured. The objective of this study was to evaluate different diagnostic methods and correlating them with direct measurement of width and thickness of attached gingiva in the front upper jaw area. The study included 30 periodontally healthy patients, in whom biotype identification was performed on teeth 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, using visual parameters, direct measurement of the width and attached gingiva thickness, and transparency of the periodontal probe as an indirect method. According to the transparency of the probe, the thick biotype was the most frequent (53.3%) was observed more in men (62.5%) than women (37.50%). According to the visual parameters, thin biotype was more prevalent (56.7%) than the thick biotype (43.3%). There were no significant differences on comparing the 2 methods. The mean width of attached gingiva was 2.79 mm and a thickness of 1.06 mm, being greater in the thick biotype (width 2.94 mm and thickness 1.10) than in the thin biotype (width 2.67 mm and thickness 1.01 mm). According to the results, it can be concluded that both the visual diagnosis and transparency of the probe are valid to identify the gingival biotype. However, a lower reproducibility by visual inspection was observed, and the thin biotype showed a higher error rate.