title: Current status and perspectives of mucogingival soft tissue measurement methods.
abstract: The morphologic and metric assessment of mucogingival soft tissue dimensions is of great multidisciplinary clinical and academic interest, in order to quantify and monitor gingival changes while in treatment, e.g., during periodontal, restorative, prosthetic, orthodontic, or implant therapy. Pink esthetics play an increasingly important role in the overall treatment success, and therefore have to be monitored throughout therapy. The purpose of this article was to identify and summarize methods, which aim at quantifying gingival dimensions in terms of morphology, thickness, and volume, with respect to their accuracy and practicability. The introduced measurement methods should further facilitate personalized treatment planning and monitoring.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mucogingival esthetics play an increasingly important role whenever treatment results are evaluated. Several qualitative and (semi)quantitative methods for measuring soft tissue dimensions are available. New methods like CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing) technologies are emerging and allow practitioners to reliably monitor their patient's soft tissues throughout therapy. Future improvements may help to develop better treatment strategies in terms of optimized preservation and creation of gingival morphology, especially in the esthetic zone.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Preventive Dentistry, Cariology and Periodontology, Center for Dental Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ronay
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sahrmann
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bindl
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Attin
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Schmidlin
mesh_terms: D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D017076:Computer-Aided Design / Q000295:instrumentation; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005881:Gingiva / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005889:Gingival Recession / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D007834:Lasers; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010517:Periodontics / Q000295:instrumentation; D010641:Phenotype; D023861:Photography, Dental / Q000379:methods; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography