Assessment of the Relationship Between Labial Gingival Thickness and Underlying Bone Thickness in Maxillary Anterior Teeth by Two Digital Techniques
Abstract The aim of this study is to noninvasively assess the relationship between the labial gingival thickness (GT) and the underlying bone thickness (BT) of the maxillary anterior teeth by two digital techniques. GT and BT were measured at 2、4 and 6 mm apical to the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) by two digital techniques: M1- cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and M2- digital intraoral scanning (DIS) combined with CBCT (30 healthy participants, 172 maxillary anterior teeth). Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the correlation between GT and BT. A significant negative correlation was identified between GT and BT at 2、4 mm apical to the CEJ for central incisors (CI), lateral incisors (LI), and canines (CA) both by M1 and M2, but not at 4 mm apical to the CEJ for CA (M2) or at 6 mm apical to the CEJ for all (M1, M2). The labial BT was demonstrated < 1 mm in most cases (85% of the CI; 97% of the LI; and 90% of the CA). Within the limitation of this study, it is concluded that the GT and BT seems to be negatively correlated in most cases, which should be cautious clinically.