A clinical study for attached gingiva width assessment using visual method with or without histochemical staining in various age groups

Background: In the periodontium, attached gingiva is an important anatomic and functional landmark. For the maintenance of periodontal health the adequate amount of keratinized tissue necessarily required for is questionable. To determine the width of attached gingiva the mucogingival junction serves an important clinical landmark. The mucogingival junction is located by the functional method, the visual method with and without histochemical staining, which then aid in the assessment of the width of attached gingiva. This study was carried out to assess the full mouth width of attached gingiva mid buccally in different age group individuals. Materials and methods: 80 subjects were included in the study and divided into four age groups: from 1-15 years, 16-30 years, 31-45 years and 45- 60 years. The width of the gingival was assessed by William's graduated probe with and without histochemical staining. Results: It was observed that there was no significant difference in the width of attached gingival measured by both the methods and it increases with age. Conclusion: It was concluded from the present study that width of attached gingiva increases with age with no significant difference between visual method with and without histochemical staining.