الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Purpose: The aims of this study are to determine the accuracy and repeatability of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for assessing gingival thickness as compared to transgingival probing and to investigate the correlation between gingival thickness and labial bone defects. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised 37 patients who underwent CBCT imaging. A total of 111 sites were examined, and measurements were obtained from the same points on selected index teeth. The gingival thickness was measured, and the presence of dehiscence and fenestration defects was evaluated on the CBCT scans. Transgingival probing was performed at the same points as those used on the scans. The intraexaminer reliability for clinical and radiographic measurements and interexaminer reliability for radiographic measurements were tested. Agreement between the measurement methods and correlations between the gingival thickness and labial bone defects were assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and chi-square test, respectively. Results: The agreement between both measurement methods was excellent and statistically significant (ICC = 0.888; p < 0.001) with a bias of 0.04 (95% confidence interval; 0.01, 0.08). Significant differences in the occurrence of fenestration (p = 0.023) and dehiscence defects (p < 0.001) between the thin and thick gingival phenotypes were observed, and the defects were positively correlated with the thin gingival phenotype. Conclusions: CBCT demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for gingival thickness measurements, with minimal discrepancies from the transgingival method. The presence of dehiscence and fenestration defects was positively correlated with the thin gingival phenotype. KEYWORDS: gingival thickness, gingival phenotype, transgingival probing, cone-beam computed tomography, dehiscence, fenestration. |