Surgical Crown Lengthening: Evaluation of the Biological Width

• Published in: Journal of periodontology (1970) 2003-04, Vol.74 (4), p.468-474
• Main Authors: Lanning, Sharon K., Waldrop, Thomas C., Gunsolley, John C., Maynard, J. Gary
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Alveolectomy; Analysis of Variance; Biologic width; Crown Lengthening; crown lengthening, surgical; Dentistry; Epithelial Attachment - anatomy & histology; Follow-Up Studies; Gingiva - anatomy & histology; Gingivectomy; Humans; Middle Aged; Oral Surgical Procedures, Preprosthetic; Periodontal Index; periodontium/anatomy and physiology; Statistics, Nonparametric; Surgical Flaps; Vertical Dimension
• ISSN: 0022-3492; 1943-3670
• DOI: 10.1902/jop.2003.74.4.468

Background: Previous surgical crown lengthening studies have investigated positional changes of the free gingival margin but not the biological width. Histological studies utilizing animal models have shown that postoperative crestal resorption allowed reestablishment of the biological width. However, very little work has been done in humans. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the positional changes of the periodontal tissues, particularly the biological width, following surgical crown lengthening in human subjects. Methods: Twenty‐three (23) patients who needed surgical crown lengthening to gain retention necessary for prosthetic treatment and/or to access caries, tooth fracture, or previous prosthetic margins entered the study. The following parameters were obtained from line angles of treated teeth (teeth requiring surgical crown lengthening) and adjacent teeth with adjacent and non‐adjacent sites: plaque and gingival indexes, free gingival margin, probing depth, attachment level, bone level, direct bone level, and biological width. During surgery, the bone level was reduced based on the future prosthetic margin and predetermined biological width; flaps were placed at the bony crest. Patients were examined at baseline and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Results: Eighteen patients completed the study. Overall, the amount of bone resected was 1 to 5 mm. At 90% of treated sites, ≥3 mm of bone was removed. At 3 months, the apical displacement of the free gingival margin at non‐adjacent, adjacent, and treated sites was 2.46 ± 0.25 mm, 2.68 ± 0.20 mm, and 3.07 ± 0.16 mm, respectively. There was no significant change in the position of the free gingival margin from 3 to 6 months. The biological width at all sites was smaller at 3 and 6 months compared to baseline (P