The width of the attached gingiva--much ado about nothing?

Abstract

Objectives: This narrative review aims to outline the concepts on the significance of the width of attached gingiva around teeth and implants to enable the clinician to decide on the need for gingival augmentation in different clinical scenarios.

Data and sources: An electronic search was done on PUBMED & Cochrane Database using the keywords from 1972 to November 2009. A manual hand search was also done in Journal of Periodontology and Journals of Clinical Periodontology for relevant articles under this topic. Any relevant paper from the references was hand searched. A total of 1167 references were obtained, 103 full text papers was retrieved of which 59 articles was selected for this review.

Conclusions: The width of attached gingiva is not significant to maintain periodontal health in the presence of adequate oral hygiene. However, thin gingival tissues around teeth with restorations or undergoing labial orthodontic tooth movement may be more susceptible to recession. The functional need for attached gingiva around implants has not been established but its aesthetic value has been widely accepted.