Hygiene Atlas

Atlas · Plate III · Histology and Embryology · 06

Gingiva and oral mucosa

Oral mucosa is masticatory (keratinized gingiva and hard palate), lining (nonkeratinized cheeks, floor of mouth and soft palate) or specialized (the dorsum of the tongue). Healthy gingiva is coral pink, firm and knife-edged, and the mucogingival junction marks where attached gingiva ends. The junctional epithelium seals to the tooth, renews in about 4-6 days and is where periodontal inflammation begins.

High-yield facts · 9

  1. Oral mucosa types: masticatory (gingiva, hard palate; keratinized), lining (buccal, labial, floor of mouth, ventral tongue, soft palate; nonkeratinized), specialized (dorsal tongue).S52
  2. Attached gingiva is keratinized and bound to bone; it is widest in the maxillary incisor area and narrowest at the mandibular premolars/canines (facial).S41
  3. The mucogingival junction separates attached gingiva from alveolar mucosa.S41
  4. Free gingival groove separates free from attached gingiva (present in about one-third of adults).S41
  5. Healthy gingiva is coral pink, firm, stippled (in about 40% of adults) and has knife-edge margins.S41
  6. Sulcular epithelium is nonkeratinized; junctional epithelium is nonkeratinized, 15-30 cells thick coronally, thinning to 1-3 cells apically.S40
  7. Junctional epithelium turns over in about 4-6 days, faster than the rest of the oral epithelium.S40
  8. The col is the nonkeratinized depression between facial and lingual papillae under a contact; it is vulnerable to inflammation.S41
  9. Biologic width (now "supracrestal tissue attachment") averages about 2 mm: roughly 1 mm junctional epithelium plus 1 mm connective tissue.S40

Facts are written in our own words; each tag links to its source. Values marked "sources vary" differ between references, so check the one your program uses.