A study to evaluate the prevalence of teeth without clinically detectable mucogingival junction

CONTEXT: The mucogingival junction (MGJ) is one of the important anatomical entities which mark the apical termination of attached gingiva, except that at palatal side. Its position is genetically determined like other organs and tissues in our body. There are certain anatomic aberrations such as abnormal teeth eruption or high frenal attachments and pathologies, such as periodontitis, leading to its absence. There are no studies on the prevalence of teeth having no clinically detectable MGJ. There is a resurgence of importance of attached gingiva, reflected by the definite presence of MGJ, through the field of dental implantology. AIMS: We aim to evaluate the prevalence of teeth without clinically detectable MGJ on the buccal aspect of dentate alveolar processes. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This cross-sectional observational clinical study was conducted in the department of periodontology which was approved by the institutional ethical committee. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Periodontally healthy as well as diseased patients of age 18–50 years were included in the study. The detection of MGJ was carried out by visual method, tension test, rolling probe method, and Lugol's iodine solution, and confirmation from any two methods was considered for the absence of MGJ. The etiology of MGJ absence (gingival recession, pocket till MGJ, trauma, abnormal frenal attachment, malposition of tooth, abnormal habits, severe abrasion, etc.,) was also evaluated. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Simple statistics in the form of averages and percentages were used for calculations. RESULTS: A total of 130 subjects (3637 teeth) were examined out of which 32 (24.6%) subjects showed no clinically detectable MGJ. In all subjects, on an average, every subject has 28 teeth and out of the total 3637 teeth analyzed, only 91 (2.5%) teeth were without detectable MGJ. CONCLUSION: Almost 25% of the population may show a tooth or few teeth without a clinically detectable MGJ. The prevalence of teeth without clinically detectable MGJ per mouth is very low at 0.7 (approximately 1 tooth/subject).