Gingival profiles in a select Asian cohort: A pilot study.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to determine the facial gingival profiles of teeth with a healthy periodontium in an Asian population. METHODS: A total of 51 patients with a healthy periodontium were examined. Gingival thickness (GT) and gingival width (GW) were assessed at the maxillary and mandibular incisors to the first molars. GT was measured by transgingival probing (GT-TGP), and probe visibility through the marginal gingiva (GT-TRAN) was assessed. Results between groups (anterior and posterior, tooth types) were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and t-test. RESULTS: The mean age was 30.3±11.4 years, with 27 females and 24 males. The mean GT-TGP was 1.39±52 mm, while the mean GW was 4.59±1.34 mm. Considerable intra-individual and interindividual variation in GT (TGP and TRAN) was noted. GT increased from the anterior to posterior, and was thinnest at the mandibular centrals to the first premolars and maxillary canines. GT-TGP and GW were influenced by tooth type, plaque, recession, and TRAN, but not age, sex, or ethnicity. GW were recorded lowest at the mandibular canines and all premolars. Thin gingiva was recorded at 63.8%-92% (GT-TGP<1.5 mm) and 75%-90% (GT-TRAN) of the anterior teeth. CONCLUSION: A high percentage of anterior teeth had thin marginal gingiva. There was poor agreement between GT-TGP and GT-TRAN.

Management strategies of the unsalvageable tooth.

UNLABELLED: A tooth is deemed unsalvageable when it can no longer be preserved for use of function or aesthetic purposes. If proper treatment planning is done, tooth extraction can be performed with adjunctive procedures, to provide a more predictable restorative outcome for the patient. This review paper summarizes the possible treatment strategies available for the management of a tooth with a poor prognosis, so as to manage the patient better before the restorative treatment phase commences. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The management of an unsalvageable tooth using interdisciplinary approaches offers the clinician strategies for providing a more favourable restorative outcome.

Principles and implications of site preservation for alveolar ridge development.

The extraction of a tooth normally results in the loss of ridge height and width. Often, clinicians are faced with the management of edentulous sites that are less than optimal for prosthetic rehabilitation and implant restoration due to considerable alveolar ridge collapse after tooth removal. Site preservation using bone grafts or substitutes with and without a membrane maintain ridge dimensions and contours. However, some clinicians believe that such procedures are over-treatment. This paper reviews the concepts and indications for site preservation following tooth extraction for the purpose of facilitating implant placement and conventional prosthetic restoration.