Morphological measurement of biologic width in Chinese people

Abstract

This study evaluated the biologic width in a Chinese population. Ten autopsy specimens of human jaws from 5 male Han Chinese cadavers were collected. Block sections of the jaws were dissected at autopsy. Six-μm-thick, mesio-distal and bucco-lingual sections were cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The widths of the junctional epithelium and connective tissue were measured with a micrometer microscope at the middle of the mesial, distal, buccal, and lingual sites. Differences in biologic width among the 4 measured sites as well as between anterior and posterior teeth were compared. The mean biologic width was 2.17 mm. The width of the junctional epithelium was 1.07 mm, and that of the connective tissue 1.10 mm. The biologic width varied among the 4 sites and the width of the posterior teeth was greater than that of the anterior teeth. (J. Oral Sci. 49, 197-200, 2007)