Gingival Phenotypes Amongst Male Dental Students at Kulliyyah of Dentistry, IIUM, Malaysia

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the periodontal phenotypes among young Malay males with different gingival biotypes. Forty-seven systemically and periodontally healthy young Malay males participated in this study,  where 25.5% were diagnosed with thin gingival biotype and 74.5%  of thick biotype. The periodontal phenotypes were measured through clinical parameters presented by the gingival thickness (GT), gingival width (GW), papilla height (PH), and crown width/crown length ratio (CW/CL). Three clusters were identified through K-means cluster ing analysis based on the parameters of the periodontal phenotypes. Cluster 1 represents narrow crown form and the average CW/CL, GW, PH and PD were 0.69, 2.92, 4.55 and 2.16 mm, respectively. Cluster 2 displayed an average of 0.76, 4.29, 4.96 and 2.14 mm for CW/CL, GW, PH and PD, respectively. Cluster 3 represents wide crown form and the average displayed for CW/CL, GW, PH and PD were 0.80, 4.85, 3.73 and 2.23 mm, respectively. There were significant differences between the three clusters (p<0.05) with respect to the GW, PH and CW/CL. This study demonstrates the difference in gingival phenotypes between young Malay males. The GW has a significant positive linear correlation (p<0.05) with CW/CL and negatively correlated with PH.