title: Correlation between horizontal mucosal thickness and probing depths at healthy and diseased implant sites.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the horizontal mucosal thickness (hMT) at healthy and diseased implant sites and correlate these measurements with respective probing depths (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  In 60 patients, hMT was assessed at the buccal aspect of healthy (n = 36) and diseased (peri-implant mucositis: n = 26; peri-implantitis: n = 167) implant sites using a validated ultrasonic A-scanner (Pirop®Ultrasonic Biometer A- Scan, Echo-Son, Krancowa, Poland) equipped with a specially designed tissue probe. The corresponding PD values were measured at the mid-buccal aspects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median hMT (1.10 mm) at healthy implant sites was significantly lower when compared with diseased sites (1.68 mm; 1.61 mm) (P < 0.001, respectively). These values did not markedly differ by implant location (i.e., upper/lower jaws) or position (i.e., anterior/posterior sites). The regression model failed to reveal a significant linear association between hMT and PD values at healthy and diseased implant sites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study has pointed to a significant increase of hMT values at diseased implant sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Claus
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015921:Dental Implants / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology; D057873:Peri-Implantitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D013280:Stomatitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants
keywords: bone regeneration; morphometric analysis; soft tissue-implant interactions