Depth of Gingival Sulcus in Healthy Children with Erupting Permanent Teeth

Introduction: Measuring the gingival sulcus depth in children while their permanent teeth erupt is rather difficult especially if using reference norms for adults for a base. Aim: Assessment of the depth of the gingival sulcus during the period of tooth eruption in healthy children. Materials and methods: Thirty children were included in the study (age range 6 – 14 yrs). The children had good oral hygiene and no history of systemic disease. They were clinically examined – their dental statuses were taken, stages of permanent teeth eruption (up to 1/3 of the clinical crown, between 1/3 and 2/3, over 2/3, in occlusion contact), and their gingival sulcus depth was measured at 6 distovestibular, vestibular, mesiovestibular, mesiolingual, lingual, and distolingual sites using an electronic probe Parometer (Orange). It was concluded that the one with the highest value would be considered the maximum depth of the sulcus. Results: The gingival sulcus depth in fully erupted teeth is very similar to that in healthy adults (2.20 – 0.49 mm). The change of sulcus depth in incisors and canines has a variation of 1.5 mm, which at the end of eruption is close to those in adults. Maximum sulcus depth for molars, premolars and incisors was measured distovestibularly, and for canines – mesiovestibularly. Conclusion: At the various stages of eruption, the depth of the gingival sulcus plausibly decreases in all tooth types, and by the end of eruption it reaches a depth similar to that of the adult standard. Most indicative in regard to depth are the vestibular probing point.