Measurements of buccal gingival and alveolar crest thicknesses of premolars using a noninvasive method

Abstract

Aims: Knowledge of gingival thickness (GT) and alveolar crest thickness (ACT) is essential for performing various surgical and non-surgical procedures in oral healthcare. However, a noninvasive, no-radiation and reproducible method for measuring GT and ACT is not yet determined. This study aimed to measure the buccal GT and ACT of premolars using 15-MHz B-mode ultrasonography (US) and to explore the relationship between GT and ACT.Material and methods: The GT in four swine mandibles was measured using15-MHz B-mode US and using K-file needles to gauge the accuracy of US. B-mode US at 15 MHz was also used to measure periodontal tissue structures including buccal GT3 (3 mm apical to the gingival margin) and ACT in 400 premolars of 50 human participants with healthy periodontium.Results: There was a strong positive correlation between US and invasive K-file needle measurements of GT in swine mandibles (p<0.05). The correlation between buccal GT3 and ACT of premolars was moderately positive (p<0.05). The gingiva of the maxillary premolars and ACT of the maxillary first premolars were thicker in men than in women (p<0.05).Conclusions: B-mode US at 15 MHz is a valid and reliable method for measuring GT and ACT and for evaluating their relationship.

Intraoral Ultrasonography for Periodontal Tissue Exploration: A Review

“…It should be noted that some studies have been realized in vitro and in vivo topic. This is the case, for example, in the studies of Sun et al, where measurements were realized on pig jawbones and on patients directly [36].…”

“…The studies almost systematically present a comparison between the ultrasound measurements of the periodontal tissue and the measurements obtained by procedures used in clinical routine (clinical probing), qualified as the gold standard. Publications show measurements of the sulcular depth [23], the thickness of the free gingiva [23], the thickness of the attached gingiva [26,28], the biological width [23,26,28], the level of the alveolar crest in relation to the cemento-enamel junction [21,27,28,32,36], the thickness of the cortical bone [26,32], the height of the interdental papilla [37] and the gingival thickness on the edentulous ridge [37].…”

“…Studies on porcine jaws show direct transgingival measurements using an endodontic file [21,34,36], direct histological measurements [21] and direct clinical measurements using periodontal probe [21,23,28,32,34,37]. Conventional imaging methods have also…”

“…Studies on porcine jaws show direct transgingival measurements using an endodontic file [21,34,36], direct histological measurements [21] and direct clinical measurements using periodontal probe [21,23,28,32,34,37]. Conventional imaging methods have also been used: cone been computerized tomography (CBCT) [27,31,32,37], retro-alveolar radiography [28] and optical microscopy [27,30,35].…”

“…Several authors have used statistical tools to establish the correlation between ultrasound measurements and other means of measurement [27,28,30,32,36,37]. In the work of Zimbran et al [23] the measurement of the sulcular space using the periodontal probe (gold standard) was not statistically different (p < 0.05) compared to the ultrasound measurement.…”