Significance of Alveolar Crest and Incidence of Anterior Interdental Papilla

Objective: To study the relationship between the distance from contact point to crest of bone and the presence of interdental papilla in maxillary anterior teeth. Materials and methods: A total of 155 interproximal sites of maxillary anterior teeth in 31 subjects of third-year dental students of Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, were randomly selected with inclusion criteria: 1) having 6 maxillary anterior teeth without open contacts or malpositions; 2) Gingival Index = 0. The presence or absence of the interdental papilla was clinically determined. If there was visible space apical to the contact area, the papilla was recorded as being absent. Periapical radiographs were taken on each subject using individual stent with metal ball (diameter 3.17mm) for calibration and then were scanned to digital images. The distances including: A1 = the vertical distance from contact point to crest of bone; A2 = the vertical distance from crest of bone to CEJ; B = the horizontal distance between adjacent CEJs, were measured with analyzing program (Image Pro Plus) and then statistically analyzed (Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-Square, P<0.05). Results: When the distances from contact point to bone crest were <4.00, 4.01-5.00, 5.01-6.00 and >6.00mm, the percentages of papilla present were 91.7, 85.9, 60.0 and 16.7 respectively. The presence or absence of interdental papilla was correlated with A1 and B (P<0.05), whereas no correlation was found with A2 (P>0.05). When the presence of interdental papilla was concerned, the mean value of A1 was 4.33±0.70mm and B was 1.49±0.43mm. Conclusion: The distance from the contact point to the crest of bone of the maxillary anterior teeth is associated with the presence or absence of the interdental papilla.