Colorvue biotype probe – A new method for the assessment of the gingival thickness?

Abstract

Background : The majority of patients receiving a prosthetic restoration, especially in the upper anterior, require not only a functional but also a highly aesthetic outcome. Gingival thickness (GT) is one of the important parameters affecting the outcome of various procedures around natural teeth and dental implants; e.g., a thin compared to a thick gingiva is associated with an increased risk for an inferior aesthetic outcome after immediate implant placement. Aim/Hypothesis : To evaluate the potential of a new probe system (Colorvue biotype probe; CBP) to assess GT. Materials and Methods : Eight examiners judged gingival thickness in 3 teeth (central and lateral incisor, canine) in each of 50 patients, using standardized photographs. The diagnostic potential of visual judgement, standard periodontal probe (SPP) transparency, and CBP transparency was calculated, based on GT measurement with transgingival sounding. Results : Considering GT = 1 mm as cutoff value, NOe of the assessment methods showed high sensitivity to correctly identify all cases with GT ≤ 1 mm; in contrast, cases with a GT > 1 mm were classified correctly with high specificity. Considering GT = 1.5 mm as cutoff value, all assessment methods showed high sensitivity in correctly identifying all cases with GT ≤ 1.5 mm; in contrast, cases with GT > 1.5 mm were classified often incorrectly (low specificity). When using the CBP transparency to judge GT most of the cases were considered as "medium" (i.e., 65.3 to 96%) and only 1-10 cases per examiner were judged as either "thick" or "very thick". The highest-still only moderate-agreement (kappa = 0.427) among all 8 examiners was achieved when using SPP, while visual judgement showed fair agreement (kappa = 0.211) and CBP showed slight agreement (kappa = 0.112). Conclusions and Clinical Implications : Assessing GT using CBP transparency appears less precise/accurate and achieves a lower inter-rater agreement compared with the use of SPP and a subclassification into thin/medium/thick/very thick cases was not reliable. Specifically, there was insufficient sensitivity and specificity to identify the thin high-risk cases, and at the same time a discrimination between "thick" and "very thick" gingiva was not possible.

Peri-implant phenotype, calprotectin and MMP-8 levels in cases diagnosed with peri-implant disease

“…The significant excess of STH, AM, KT, and MT in thick biotype implants is compatible with expectations. Bertl et al [ 41 ] suggested potential inaccuracies in the evaluation of color-coded biotype probes when MT exceeds 1.5 mm. Results of the current study showed that the average MT in implants with a thin biotype is 1.07 mm, and in implants with a thick biotype the average MT was 2.76 mm.…”