In the past few years, the dimensions of different parts of the masticatory mucosa, particularly gingival thickness, has become a topic of interest in periodontics speciality both from an epidemiologic and a therapeutic point of view. 7 The purpose of this study was to assess the gingival biotypes in a sample of periodontally healthy volunteers and to correlate their prevalence in accordance with age, gender and dental arch location. Ninety subjects participated in this cross-sectional study who were categorized into two age groups- 16-34 years and 35-54 years. All maxillary and mandibular anteriors were included as reference teeth because differences between biotypes are most explicit for these teeth. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only study in which the attempt was made to assess gingival biotype using Hu-friedy Colorvue^® biotype probe and correlating it with age, gender and dental arch location in maxillary and mandibular anteriors.

Recent research has demonstrated that an entirely subjective and non-instrumental assessment give rise to an unacceptably high number of errors, even in the case of assessment by an expert clinician. 8 Hu-friedy Colorvue^® Biotype probe is a non-invasive manual dental tool that enables a precise assessment of the periodontal biotype without the above-mentioned drawbacks.

In this study, we used a Hu-friedy Colorvue^® Biotype probe for gingival biotype assessment, which is a reliable and reproducible newly introduced device. Based on the visibility of the colored tip of the probe through the gingiva, the biotype was assessed.

The use of Colorvue^® Biotype probe has several advantages over the other instrumental methods. It is a smooth and simple tool to use which do not induce any trauma in the periodontal tissues. Moreover, the results are quick and easy, and reliable to interpret.

Periodontal biotype evaluation is an important parameter in establishing patient expectations in many complex esthetic procedures by allowing the clinician to predict therapeutic outcome. 9 Thin gingival biotypes are comparatively less stable and are more prone for papillary and marginal recession whereas thicker biotype are relatively more resistant to gingival recession following surgical and/or restorative therapy. 6, 10

The findings of this study are in concurrence with the study results by several authors. 7, 11, 12, 13, 14 This is in contrast to the observation of Waraaswapati et al. 15 Chang 16 in his study stated that an inverse relationship is found to be existing between papilla height and age. In the present study, among male population, medium and thick gingival biotype was observed to be more prevalent and in female population, there was a higher prevalence of thin biotype. These results are in agreement with the study conducted by several authors 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18 which reported that males have a thicker gingival biotype than females. However, contradictory results were reported by Agarwal et al 14 and Shah et al. 19

Dental arch comparison of gingival biotype demonstrated a prevalence of thinner biotype in mandibular arch and more medium and thicker biotype in maxillary arch. It could be due to the anatomic difference between the maxillary and mandibular teeth and alveolar sizes. These findings are in accordance with Muller et al 1 and Agarwal et al. 14 and in contrast to the results of Vandana and Savitha. 7

To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies reporting gingival biotype assessment preformed on both maxillary and mandibular anteriors and categorizing into four different biotypes- thin, medium, thick and very thick. Since gingival biotype appears to influence the outcome of various dental procedures including periodontal, restorative, implant and orthodontic treatment its precise assessment is important for treatment planning. Thus, the biotype assessment should incorporate an easy and reproducible method for discriminating different biotypes. One such promising tool for biotype assessment is Hu-friedy Colorvue^® Biotype probe. The reproducibility of this probe enables a precise comparison of the data emerging from different clinical studies, and consequently affords an opportunity to improve our understanding of the behavior of different periodontal biotypes in response to different therapies.

Within the limits of the present study, it is demonstrated that medium and thicker gingival biotype are more prevalent in younger subjects than older subjects. Females exhibited a thinner gingiva as compared with males. On dental arch comparison, the gingiva was found to be thicker in the maxillary arch as compared with the mandibular arch. Since gingival biotype is gaining significant attention as one of the key elements influencing aesthetic treatment outcome, evaluation of gingival biotype is of paramount relevance. The Hu-friedy Colorvue^® Biotype probe proves to be an excellent tool for assessing gingival biotype in the most atraumatic and efficient way and thus aiding in selection of proper treatment protocol.

We would like to thank Dr. Arun Kumar MDS, Professor, Department of Periodontology, Yenepoya Dental College for his constant support and encouragement for carrying out this study.