Victor Beltrán; Maritsa Silva; Marisel Padilla; Elena Aillapan; Antonio Sanhueza; Mario Cantín & Ramón Fuentes

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of morphological patterns of gingival recession, attachment loss, and type of interdental papilla in adult subjects of different age in a Chilean population. A total of 105 patients with ages ranging from 18 to 64 years of both sexes participated in our study. The prevalence of gingival recession was 92.38%, affecting 530 teeth. The morphological pattern of gingival recession most common was class II (34.94%), followed by types III, I and IV. According to ANOVA test, differences were significant in relation to the mean number of affected teeth. Of those who had recessions, females had a slightly higher prevalence. The range 18-34 years showed a prevalence of 82.22% and from 35 years increased to 100%. The vertical extent between 0-3mm and horizontal between 4-7mm were the most prevalent affected 88.68% and 59.05% of teeth, respectively. Attachment loss was 3-4mm in 316 teeth (59.62%), and the most prevalent interdental papillae on the different patterns was type I (40.18%) followed by type III (21.88%). Differences were statistically significant (p=0.001) in relation to age of individuals who presented diferent morphological patterns of gingival recession. For the others parameters (depth and width of the recession, attachment loss) we found no statistically significant differences with a confidence interval of 95%. These findings represent a contribution for the evaluation of gingival recession in our population, particularly in the anterior aesthetic zone.

KEY WORDS: Morphological patterns; Gingival recession; Miller's classification; Attachment loss; Interdental papilla.

BELTRÁN, V.; SILVA, M.; PADILLA, M.; AILLAPAN, E.; SANHUEZA, A.; CANTÍN, M. & FUENTES, R. Morphological patterns of gingival recession in adult Chilean population. Int. J. Morphol., 31(4):1365-1370, 2013.