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Width of attached gingiva in an Indian population: A descriptive study 

Shaju Jacob P1, Zade RM2 
 
Abstract 
Objectives: Attached gingiva is important for maintaining periodontium in a healthy state. 
The present study tries to find the normal values of width of attached gingiva in a 
periodontally healthy Indian population. Material and Methods: The width of attached 
gingiva was measured with a periodontal probe in periodontally healthy patients attending 
the periodontics department. Descriptive statistical analysis was done to get the mean, which 
will represent the normal values of width of attached gingiva for the population. Results: 
Female patients had a greater width than males and the 20 to 30 year old group had the 
greatest width of attached gingiva. The mean values of attached gingiva varied in different 
areas of the mouth with greatest width in maxillary central incisors and least in mandibular 
molars. Conclusion: Width of attached gingiva varies with age, gender and in different areas 
of the mouth.  
 
Key words: Periodontium, gingiva, health,  
 

 
Introduction: 
Attached gingiva is one of the most 
important anatomic and functional 
landmarks in the periodontium. Though 
there is not enough evidence on the role of 
attached gingiva in maintaining psence of 
the attached gingiva can lead to 
inflammation in individuals with less than 
optimal plaque control1. Creation of an 
increasing the width of attached gingiva 
forms a major portion of periodontal  
 
 

 
plastic surgery. There are very few studies 
done to evaluate the width of attached 
gingiva and no studies on the Indian 
population. Assessing the width of the 
attached gingiva will help in assessing the 
risk for a periodontium to be affected by 
disease for which normal values need be 
known for that population. The study was 
aimed to assess the width of attached 
gingiva in the population attending the 
dental college in Chhattisgarh.  

 
 
 
 
1. Dr. Shaju Jacob P, Department of Periodontics and Oral Implantology 
 

2.Prof. Zade RM ,Dean, Chhattisgarh Dental College and Research Institute 
 
Corresponds to: 
Dr. Shaju Jacob P, Reader, Department of Periodontics and Oral Implantology 
Chhattisgarh Dental College and Research Institute, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh. INDIA. 
Email: shajujacob@yahoo.com 
 
  

BANGLADESH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE Volume-8 No. 3; June 2009 



 

Materials and Methods: 
Patients attending the periodontal Out-
patient department in the age group of 20 
to 50 years were invited to participate in 
the study. Patients with more than 4 mm of 
Clinical attachment level in any of the 
assessed teeth were excluded. As there 
was no probing of gingiva involved, no 
medical contraindication for inclusion 
criteria was kept. Institutional Ethics  
Committee gave approval for the study. 
After getting informed consent, patients’ 
data were collected through an 
administered questionnaire and clinical 
examination. Attached gingiva was 
measured by the following way with a 
UNC 15 periodontal probe. The distance 
from the crest of marginal gingiva to 
mucogingival junction is measured and is 
subtracted with the probing depth in the 
mid buccal region to get the width of 
attached gingiva on the buccal side of all 
the central incisors, first premolars and 
first molars, a total of 12 teeth.  

 
Results:  
A total of 73 patients participated in the 
study of which 43 (59%) were females. 
Female patients had a higher width of 3.04 
mm than males with an average of 2.67 
mm (Table 1). Maxillary central incisors 
had the greatest width with an average of 
3.77 mm and mandibular molars had the 
least width of 2.48 mm (Table 2). 
Mandibular incisors had a width of 2.52 
mm, maxillary premolars 3.04 mm, 
mandibular premolars 2.75 mm and 
maxillary molars 2.58 mm. Width of a 
gingiva was the looked in to in different 
age groups. In the age group of 20-30 year 
the width was found to be greatest, 2.97 
mm while 30-40 year olds patients had the 
lowest of 2.721 mm. The greatest width 
was seen in a left maxillary premolar and 
the lowest value was 0 mm (0mm 
indicates absence of attached gingiva) 
found in all categories of teeth.  

 

Table 1: Width of Attached gingiva in Males and Females 

 N Mean ± SD (mm) 

Female 43 3.035±1.269

Male 30 2.674±1.536
 

Table 2: Width of Attached gingiva among different types of tooth  

Tooth type Mean ± SD (mm)

Maxillary central incisors 3.771±1.761

Maxillary first premolars 3.044±1.929

Maxillary first molars 2.578±1.581

Mandibular central incisors 2.516±1.370

Mandibular first premolars 2.752±1.730

Mandibular first molars 2.480±1.273

Width of attached gingiva in health 



 

 

Table 3: Width of attached gingiva in different age groups 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

Discussion:  

There are very studies done on the width 
of attached gingiva. One of the most often 
study quoted on width is by Bowers2 GM 
in 1963 and Ainamo3 in 1976. The present 
study measured attached gingiva with the 
help of a periodontal probe similar to 
Tenenbaum4 while Talari5, Ainamo6 and 
Saario7,8 used Schiller’s iodine solution 
and orthopantomograms to measure. 
Bowers2 found the facial attached gingiva 
varied in different areas of the mouth as 
seen in the present study. Ainamo3 found 
greatest in maxillary incisors similar to our 
study.  The least width in our study was in 
mandibular molars while Ainamo3 found it 
to be mandibular premolars. Ainamo3 and 
Vincent9 found the width of attached 
gingiva increases with age where as our 
study found width was greatest in the 20- 

 

 

30 age group while the middle age group 
of 30-40 years was the least (Table3).  

Conclusion: 

Width of attached gingiva varies in 
different areas of the mouth with the 
maxillary incisors having the greatest 
width. There was no relationship with age 
while females had a greater width of 
attached gingiva. Further studies should be 
done on periodontally healthy individuals 
in different population in India to get a 
reference value for width of attached 
gingiva.  

Acknowledgements: 

I like to thank the students and 
management of Chhattisgarh Dental 
College and Research Institute for the 
support and help rendered towards conduct 
of the above study.  

 

___________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Reference: 
1. H.H.Takei, R.R.Azzi, T.J.Han. 

Periodontal Plastic and Esthetic 
Surgery. In Newman MG, Takei HH, 
Klokkevold PR, Carranza FA Eds 
Carranza's Clinical Periodontology, 
10th ed.. 2006: 1005-1029. 

 
 

2. Bowers GM. A study of the width of 
the attached gingiva. J Periodontology, 
1963; 34:210-13. 

3. Ainamo J, Talari A. The increase with 
age of the width of attached gingiva. J 
Periodontal Res 1976; 11:182-88. 

 
 

Age group in years N Mean± SD 
(mm) 

20-30 39 2.97±1.34 

30-40 14 2.72±1.63 

40-50 20 2.85±1.35 

P Shaju Jacob and RM Zade  



 

4. Tenenbaum H, Tenenbaum M. A 
clinical study of the width of the 
attached gingiva in the deciduous, 
transitional and permanent dentitions. 
J Clin Periodontol 1986; 13(4):270-75. 

 
 
5. Talari A, Ainamo J. 

Orthopantomographic assessment of 
the width of attached gingiva. J 
Periodontal Res 1976; 11(4):177-81. 

 
 
6. Ainamo A, Ainamo J. The width of 

attached gingiva on supraerupted teeth. 
J Periodontal Res 1978; 13(3):194-98. 

 
 
 

7. Saario M, Ainamo A, Mattila K, 
Suomalainen K, Ainamo J. The width 
of radiologically-defined attached 
gingiva over deciduous teeth. J Clin 
Periodontology 1995; 22(12):895-98. 

 

8. Saario M, Ainamo A, Mattila K, 
Ainamo J. The width of radiologically-
defined attached gingiva over 
permanent teeth in children. J Clin 
Periodontology 1994; 21(10):666-69. 

 
 

9. Vincent JW, Machen JB, Levin MP.                    
Assessment of attached gingiva using 
the tension test   and clinical 
measurements J Periodontology 1976; 
47(7): 412-14.   
 

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