Clinical evaluation of the effect of gingival thickness on increasing the width of keratinized and attached gingiva with and without preserving periosteum in an animal study

The present study was performed in order to assess the effect of gingival thickness on amount of gingival augmentation with and without preserving periosteum.
The study was conducted on 8 ecotype dogs aged 1-5 years. At the beginning, clinical probing depth and keratinized and attached gingiva width were measured. Totally, 64 sites were operated in this study. Periosteal fenestration and denuded beds were randomly created on opposite sides of upper and lower jaws (4 sites each side). The thickness of gingiva was measured in mucogingival junction after preparation of the beds. The clinical parameters were evaluated 2 months after the surgery. The data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon, and Pearson correlation tests.
The results showed the average increased width of keratinized and attached gingiva was 1.8 mm and 2 mm in periosteal fenestration sites and 1.9 mm and 2.3 mm in denudation sites, respectively at 2 months post-surgery. The difference between the width of keratinized gingiva and attached gingiva before and 2 months after operation was significant in both groups (P A gingival thickness of 0.8 to 2 mm does not affect the increment of the attached and keratinized gingival width with and without preserving periosteum.