Intra- and Inter-examiner Reproducibility in Keratinized Tissue Width Assessment with 3 Methods for Mucogingival Junction Determination

Background: Although the need for "adequate" amount of keratinized tissue (KT) for periodontal health is questionable, the mucogingival junction (MGJ) often serves as a measurement landmark in periodontal evaluations. Limited information is available on the reproducibility of KT width (KTW) assessment. The purpose of this study was to assess intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility in measuring KTW by using 3 different methods to identify MGJ location.

Methods: Fifteen patients provided 17 teeth which had undergone a gingival augmentation procedure (connective tissue graft; surgery group) and an equal number of contralateral, non-treated teeth (control group). At the midbuccal aspect of each tooth, KTW was assessed by 2 independent examiners after MGJ identification by the visual (VM), functional (FM), and visual with histochemical staining (HM) method. Data analysis was based on intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and 3-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for differences between replicate measurements.

Results: KTW was significantly different between treated and control teeth. No significant differences in KTW were found in relation to method for MGJ determination and examiner. Intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility was high, regardless of treatment status or method for MGJ determination (ICC = 0.92 - 0.99). Standard deviations of the difference between replicate measurements ranged from 0.46 mm for VM to 0.21 mm for HM.

Conclusions: Intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility has been shown to be substantially consistent when different methods for MGJ determination are used to measure the apico-coronal dimension of the gingiva. The level of reproducibility does not seem to be affected whether or not the mucogingival complex has been surgically altered by a gingival augmentation procedure.