The shrinkage of free gingival grafts (FGGs) is a well-known clinical phenomenon but there are limited studies demonstrating the dimensional changes during healing in FGGs. The aim of the study is to examine the shrinkage of FGG in both horizontal and vertical dimensions and calculate the changes in the surface area of the graft at early and delayed periods of healing. The FGG procedure was applied to 15 consecutive patients in their mandibular anterior area. The graft sizes and areas were measured and the shrinkage of the graft was calculated at baseline and days 10, 21 and 180. Hemorrhage, sense alteration and pain symptoms were also examined. Change in the horizontal direction was not statistically significant during the whole study period (p > 0.05). However, there was a statistically significant reduction in the vertical direction in all visits, except day 10 (p < 0.05). Calculated graft area was also significantly reduced during the study period at all time-points compared to the baseline (p < 0.001). At day 10, 4 (26.7%) recipient sites and 5 (33%) donor sites demonstrated paresthesia. Only one (0.07%) recipient site demonstrated paresthesia at day 21 where the donor site resulted with an uneventful healing. At day 10, 5 (33%) patients demonstrated bleeding at their donor regions and resulted with a complete cessation of bleeding at day 21. Pain symptom was found in 8 (53.3%) recipient sites where 3 (20%) donor regions presented pain symptom at day 10. Graft shrinkage in the vertical dimension seems to affect the clinical outcomes of the FGG procedure. However, the influence of horizontal graft shrinkage was minimal.

The present study suggests that the use of SCTG in combination with a tunnel procedure may result in an increased amount of root coverage and clinical attachment gain compared to the Langer and Langer technique. Further comparative studies are necessary to understand the periodontal healing generated by the tunnel procedure and Langer and Langer technique.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between different disability states in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) as determined by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and dental-periodontal measures. Subjects and Methods: Eighty patients with MS (64 females and 16 males) were included in this study. Data on MS types, attack frequency, disease duration, EDSS scores and orofacial complaints prior to an MS attack were obtained from medical records. The plaque index (PI), probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), gingival index (GI), decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT) index and number of present teeth were measured during one dental examination for each subject. The MS patients were divided into the following 2 groups based on their EDSS scores: low physical disability (L-DS) and high physical disability (H-DS). Differences in dental parameters between groups of low and high disability were investigated. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the participants was 38.06 ± 10.11 years. Age and disease duration were higher in the H-DS MS group than in the L-DS MS group (p < 0.05). The PI, PD and GI were higher and the number of filled teeth was lower in the H-DS MS group than in the L-DS MS group (p < 0.05). The EDSS scores of the H-DS MS group presented a significant correlation with the number of decayed teeth (r = -0.548, p = 0.005). Orofacial complaints prior to an MS attack were reported by 18 (22.5%) patients. Conclusion: Oral measurements revealed various differences between groups of low and high disability in MS patients. In addition, some maxillofacial-oral complaints prior to an MS attack were observed.

The findings of the present study confirm the reliability of triplicate readings, and uniqueness of each device and electronic data and the distinct impact of local environmental conditions on the generation/maintenance of calibration scores for each particular device. Furthermore, they underline time-dependent evaporation and fluid retention as additional technical concerns and once again highlight the importance of methodological standardization of the electronic volume quantification process.

Background: The aim of this study is to compare the effect of mesial and distal adjacent gingival phenotypes of the tooth or teeth region of free gingival graft (FGG) on the shrinkage ratio of graft at 6 months postoperatively.Methods: Thirty-one patients with inadequate keratinized gingival width (KGW) around mandibular incisors were included in this study. The phenotype of the mesial and distal terminal teeth was evaluated by the probe transparency method and keratinized gingival thickness measurements; study groups were divided as thick and thin phenotype. The plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and recession height (GRH), recession width (GRW) and KGW measurements were recorded at baseline and sixth month. Vertical dimension of graft (VDG), horizontal dimension of graft (HDG), recipient area horizontal width (RAHW), recipient area vertical depth (RAVD) were recorded during surgery. The shrinkage ratio was calculated with a Java-based analysis program. Results:There was no significant difference in the clinical and surgical measurements between the groups. KGW mean values for both of adjacent teeth increased at 6th month compared to baseline but there was no difference between the groups at 6 months. GRH value has decreased significantly in thick phenotype group at the 6th month. The shrinkage ratio was found 23.14 ± 12.21% and 17.76 ± 11.05% in the thin and thick phenotype group, respectively. The difference between the groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.210). Conclusion:The phenotype of the adjacent teeth has a similar impact on FGG shrinkage ratio at the sixth month. Thick phenotype of adjacent teeth seems to be more supportive for root coverage.