Thickness of palatal masticatory mucosa associated with age

Background: The palatal masticatory mucosa is widely used as a donor materi al in periodontal plastic surgery. However, there are relatively few studie s investigating the volume or thickness of the palatal mucosa. The purpose of this study was to determine the thickness of palatal masticatory mucosa in Asian subjects aged 14 to 59 years by a direct clinical technique. The a ssociations of age and gender with the thickness of palatal mucosa were als o examined. Methods: Sixty-two systemically and periodontally healthy Asians (31 males; 31 females; age range 14 to 59 years) participated in this study. The youn ger age group (age 14 to 21 years) consisted of 32 subjects with a mean age of 16.8 years, whereas the older age group (age 30 to 59 years) consisted of 30 subjects with a mean age of 38.7 years. A bone-sounding method using a periodontal probe with minimal anesthesia and a prepared clear acrylic st ent were utilized to assess the thickness of palatal mucosa at 15 measureme nt sites defined according to the gingival margin and mid-palatal line. Mul tiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine the associations of age and gender with the mean mucosal thickness at the subject level. The Wilcoxon test was used to determine the difference in mucosal thickness be tween the 2 age groups, and between gender at each measurement point. Results: The mean thickness of palatal masticatory mucosa ranged from 2.0 t o 3.7 mm. The younger age group had significantly thinner mucosa (mean 2.8 +/- 0.3 mm) than the older age group (mean 3.1 +/- 0.3 mm). Females had thi nner mucosa than males in the same age group, but the difference was not st atistically significant. Overall, the thickness of palatal mucosa increased from the canine to second molar areas and in the sites furthest from the g ingival margin towards the mid-palate (with the exception of the first mola r area, where significantly decreased thickness was observed). Conclusions: Within the limits of the present study, the canine and premola r areas appear to be the most appropriate donor site for grafting procedure s in both young and adult individuals. The subepithelial connective tissue graft procedure can be considered as a treatment modality in young patients , since a sufficient volume of donor tissue can be obtained from the hard p alate area. Other factors that may influence the thickness of palatal mucos a such as racial and genetic factors and body weight need to be further inv estigated.