Comparative Assessment of Alveolar Bone Thickness and Its Influence on Soft Tissue Thickness Using CBCT and Transgingival Probing: A Pilot Study

Background: Assessment of periodontal biotype is an important element in clinical practice. The influence of gingival thickness has been documented in various applications including non-surgical periodontal therapy, mucogingival therapy, guided tissue regeneration, crown lengthening and implant dentistry. Differences in the gingival and osseous architecture have been shown to exhibit significant impact on the outcome of restorative therapy. Many methods have been tried in assessing periodontal biotype, and it is proved that probe visibility is not a reliable indicator in assessing periodontal biotype.Therefore the present study was conducted to evaluate the association between alveolar bone thickness and overlying soft tissue by comparing the values obtained by CBCT and transgingival probing. Aim: The present study is to evaluate the association between alveolar bone thickness and overlying soft tissue thickness by correlating information obtained by transgingival probing and CBCT. Materials and Methods: Ten systemically healthy patients within the age group of 20-40 were recruited from the outpatient department of periodontics Sri Sai College of Dental surgery Vikarabad. Examination of the subjects included in the study begun with the measurement of clinical parameters like gingival recession and attachment loss. To assess the gingival thickness clinically, transgingival probing was done in lower anteriors. Hard and soft tissue measurements were obtained from cross sectional CBCT scans in lower anterior region. Soft tissue values obtained from CBCT were compared to the values of transgingival probing to test the reliability of clinical method. Hard tissue thickness was correlated with the soft tissue to find out the influence of gingival biotype on labial bone thickness. Results: No statistically significant difference was found between the labial bone thickness and gingival thickness. Variable results were found when gingival thickness was assessed using CBCT and transgingival probing. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that gingival thickness varies according to the underlying bone morphology, position of tooth in the arch. Soft tissue CBCT can be considered as one of the best non-invasive method in determining the thickness of the gingival tissue and labial bone.