Gingival Stereotypes

Gingival biotype is an important parameter affects the success and esthetic results of periodontal plastic surgery and implant treatments in the esthetic zone (De Rouck, Eghbali, Collys, De Bruyn, & Cosyn, 2009; La Rocca et al., 2012). Several classifications have been proposed for gingival biotypes. Ochsenbein and Rose (1973) stated that the gingiva follows the contour of the underlying bone and tooth shape; accordingly, they described two gingival anatomies namely (I) thin scalloped, which refers to the triangular-shaped teeth with scalloped gingival margins and (II) thick flat, which refers to square-shaped teeth with flat gingival margins ( Ochsenbein & Ross, 1973). Seibert and Lindhe (1989) described the differences of tooth shapes and heights in relation to the morphology of periodontium and introduced a classification for periodontal biotypes(Seibert & Lindhe, 1989).
The thick biotype referred to cases where the distance from the CEJ to crestal bone was less than 3mm (Kois, 1996). Later on in 1997, Muller and Eger (1997) on 42 individuals described periodontal phenotypes for different shapes of teeth and gingiva as follows: (I) Keratinized gingiva with normal thickness and width along the teeth with normal length and width (two-thirds of the subjects); (II) Square-shaped incisors with thick and wide gingiva (21% of the subjects); (III) Square-shaped incisors with normal GT and minimal width of the keratinized tissue (12% of the subjects) (Müller & Eger, 1997). De Rouck et al. (2009) revisited gingival biotype in their study and assessed the transparency of the periodontal probe through the gingival margin as a method to differentiate thin from thick gingival