title: Esthetic gingival recontouring--a plea for honesty.
abstract: There continues to be a tremendous amount of confusion in the dental literature and among practitioners regarding the diagnosis and treatment of gingival discontinuities. The purpose of this article is to present a rationale for gingival recontouring, illustrated by a case report. A patient requested gingival recontouring. Because the preoperative evaluation was inadequate, a simple gingivectomy procedure was performed. After healing, the tissue had rebounded to its preoperative levels. The patient was then evaluated more comprehensively, and gingival recontouring was accomplished with a mucoperiosteal flap and osseous recontouring. The tissue subsequently healed at the correct position and remained stable. To reliably perform gingival recontouring procedures, the dentist must have a clear understanding of the biologic width. By using diagnostic bone sounding, the practitioner can determine the appropriate surgical procedure that will ensure an esthetic and stable postoperative result.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Dentistry, University of Texas, Health Science Center, San Antonio Dental School, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78284, USA. robbinsdds@aol.com
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Robbins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005893:Gingivoplasty / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010519:Periodontium / Q000033:anatomy & histology