/. Fcriodontal Res.

13: 189-193, 1978

Influence of age on the location of the

maxillary mucogingival junction

Department of Periodontology, Institule of Derttistry, '^fQ

University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

The aitn of the study was to determine the influence of age on the location of the maxillary
mticogingiv;\l junctioti. The material comprised orlhopantoniograms of 20 male and 20
fetnale students aged 21-30 years and 20 male and 20 female adults aged 39-51 years.
The tnticogingival junction wa.s' revca/ed witit Schiller's iodine solution and marked with
short pieces of mclal wire, attached to the teeth and gingivae with Squibb's Orahesive
Dental Bandage in the midline of the facial sutface of each tooth. Orthopantomograms
were taken of the tnarked dentitions with the X-ray beam passing Ihe horizontally posi-
tioned occlusal level at a —5° angle. From the radiographs the distance frotit the floor of
the nasal cavity to the mucogingival junclion was ttieasured separately for each tooth to
the nearest millimeten The distance between the floor of the nasal cavity and the muco-
gingival jtinction was found to be the same in both age groups. Since there is no reason
to believe that the floor of the nasal cavity would tnove downwards and certainly not
upwards with advancing age, it was suggested that the mucogingival junction also remains
at a constant location thiough adult life.

(Accepted for publication August 9, 1977)

Introduction
tween the lines fonned by the tnandibular
In a previous study (Ainatrto & Talari cetnento-enatTtel and the mandibular muco-
1976) it was showii that the orthopantomo- gingival junction, i. e. in the region of the
graphic distance from the mucogingivai alveolar process. The view of Pietrokowski
junction to the cementoenamel junction and Massler (1967) that the mucogingival
both in the maxilla and in the niandihle junction forms the border line between the
increases significantly between the ages of basal and the alveolar hone, was thus shared
23 and 43 years. It was also shown that by Ainamo and Talari (1976).
the distance from the mandibular tnuco- In a subsequent methodological study it
gingival jutietion to the lower border of the was observed that the projection of the
mandible remains constant during the same floor of the nasal cavity forms a teliable
time period. It was suggested that among reference line for measurement of the loca-
adults in western countries the growth tion of the tnaxillary mucogingival junction
which results in an increase of the lower in routinely exposed orthopantomograms
facial height (Thompson & Kendrick 3 964) (Ainamo 1977). The present study was
most probably occurs in the mandible be- undertaken in order to determine the sta-
190 A INAM O

Fig. 1. Along the long axis of each tooth the distance was measured from the muoogingival junction (marked
with pieces of metal wire) to the floor of the nasal cavity (marked with dots in the left half of the jaw).

bility with advancing age of the maxillary -5 degree angulation of the X-ray beam
mticogingiviil junction as related to the towards the horizontally placed occlusal
orthopantomographic projection of the na- plane (Talari et al. 1975).
sal floor. The distance in the orthopantomograms
from the maxillary mucogingival junction
to the floor of the nasal cavity was mea-
Material and Methods
sured along the midline of each tooth (Fig.
The subjects of the study were 20 tnale 1). The measurements were performed with
dental students aged 21-26 years (mean age a translucent plastie ruler to the nearest
23.4 ± 1.3 years), 20 female dental stu- millimeter directly from the orthopantomo-
dents aged 22-30 years (mean age 23.9 ± grams.
2.1 years), 20 adult males aged 39-48 years The data wete processed at the Institute
(mean age 42.6 ± 3.8 years) and 20 adult of Nuclear Physics, University of Helsinki,
females aged 39-51 years (mean age 43.6 ± on a Burrough 6700 computer. As no dif-
3.8 years). The two groups of adults con- ferences were observed between ihe left and
sisted of 30 dentists or dentist's spouses, six right sides of the jaws, the recordings were
female nurses and four middle-class pa- bilaterally pooled for final analysis.
tients. They were thus comparable with the
dental students both with regard to nourish-
ment, dental health behaviour and race. Results

In each subject the maxillary mucogin- Comparisons were made between the two
gival junction was revealed with Schiller's age groups and between sexes.
iodine solution and marked with short pieces The distance between the maxillary mu-
of metal wire, attached to the teeth and cogingival junction and the nasal floor ap-
gingivae with Squibb's Orahesive® Dental peared in general to be greater in males
Bandage (Talari & Ainamo 1976). An than in females. However, this difference
orthopantomogram was then taken with a between sexes was statistically significant
 M A X I L L A R Y M U C O G I N G I V A L J U N C T I O N 191

+1+ +2+ +3+ +A+ +5+ +6+ +7+

10 i i '//•^.
23yrs
20 T T T T T

30 X - XX

mm
+2+ +3+ +5+ +6+ +7+
10
20 f ^
30

mm
Fig. 2. Difference between sexes In the distance from the mucogingival junction to the nasal floor in the age
groups of 23-year-old and 43-year-old persons. The symbols x - x x indicate differences of statistical
significance.

+1+ +2+ +3+ +5+ +6+ +7+

cJ"
10
20
i.
30 x-xx x-xx x-xx

nrrfri
+1+ +2+ +3+ +5+ +6+ +7+
V//.
10 y/A y/A
20 A-
I
T
1 1
-HLLJ
T
¥ 1 -p- \.
-J-

30

mm
Fig. 3. Difference between 23-year-old and 43-year-old persons with regard to the distance from the muco-
gingival junction to the floor of the nasal cavity in male and female subjects. The symbols x - x x indicate
statistically significant differences. • •
 192 A1 NAM 0

only at the upper first molar in the group maxillary tnucogingival junction and the
of 23-year-oId persons (Fig. 2). nasal floor remains stable through ad-
Among females there was no difference vancing age (Fig. 3), this means that in the
between the two age groups with regard maxilla the mucogingival junction does cer-
to the jmeasured distance. In males there tainly not move apically. There being no
was a statistically significant differetice in reason to assume that the mucogingival
the distance from the mucogingival junc- junctioti in the rnandible would behave dif-
tion to the nasal floor between the 23-year- ferently, the present results do not confirm
old and 43-year-old age-groups only in the the view of a continuous appositional
area of the three anterior teeth (Fig. 3). growth along the mandibular border.
The results of the present study confirm
the theory of Pietrokowski and Massler
Discussion
(1967) suggesting that the mucogingival
The indication that the distance from the junction is a genetically determined border
maxillary mucogingival junction to the nasal line between the basal bone and the alveolar
floor is longer in males than in females process. The alveolar process is induced
(Fig. 2) is analogical with the earlier find- by the developing teeth (Ten Cate & Mills
ings regarding the lower jaw (Ainamo & 1972) and it is also the place were construc-
Talari 1976). Both observations agree with tion and destruction of bone takes place
the finding of Ingerslev & Solow (1975) during life (Pietrokowski & Massler 1967).
that the male cranium is larger in size than Accordingly, after loss of the teeth, mandi-
the female. bular corpus height has been found to de-
The main finding of the present study crease significantly (Lonberg 1951, Tall-
was that there was no systematic age-cor- gren 1957).
related change in the distance from the The age related iticrease of the lower
maxillary mucogingival junction to the facial height which has been demonstrated
orthopantomographic projection ofthe nasal in western man with neglibible amounts of
floor (Fig. 3). occlusal attrition (Thompson & Kendrick
After demonstration that the distance 1964) seems to be due to vertical growth
from the matidibular mucogingival junction mainly in the region of the alveolar process
to the lower border ofthe mandible (Ainamo itself. This conclusion is in accordance with
& Talari 1976) remained constant when cor- earlier findings of a continuous appositional
related with advancing age, the question growth in the region of the healthy alveolar
arose whether appositional growth might crest (Weinmann 1941, Anneroth & Erics-
occur at the lower border of the mandible. son 1967, Loe & Listgarten 1973, Baten-
]f that were the case, also the mandibular horst et al. 1974).
mucogingival junction would move apically The small but statistically significant in-
as originally suggested by Ainamo & Loe crease with advancing age in the distance
(1966). between the maxillary tnucogingival junc-
In the maxilla there is no reason to be- tion atid the nasal floor in the anterior teeth
lieve that the nasal floor would move up- in males (Fig. 3) may be the result of a
wards with advancing age. On the cotitrary, general growth potential of basal bone (Is-
it has been shown in growth studies that rael 1968). This finding is in agreetnent
the cavities of the skull tend rather to en- also with the results of earlier anthro-
large in the transition from youth to old age pological studies (Herzberg & Holic 1943,
(Israel 1971). As the distance between the Baer 1956) which indicate that in addition
 M A X I L L A R Y M U C O G I N G I V A L J U N C T I O N 193

to an increase of the lower facial height, ences in cranio-facial morphology. Acta

there is a very small continuous general Odont. Scand. 33: 85-94.
growth of the basal bones of the male Israel, H. 1968. Continuing growth in the hu-
man cranial skeleton. Arcli. Oral Biol. 13:
cranium. 133-137.
On basis of earlier findings in the man- Israel, H. 1971. The impact of aging upon the
dible (Ainamo & Talari 1976) and the pre- adult craniofacial skeleton. Di.ss. Univ. Ala-
sent results from the maxilla it seems justi- bama, Birmingham, Alabama.
Loe, H. & Listgarlen, M. A. 1973. Periodon-
fied to conclude that the location of the tium. In: Periodontal therapy. 5th ed. (Gold-
mucogingival junction in both jaws is stable man, H. M. & Cohen, D. W., ed.) C. V.
through adult life. ,- . : ^ Mosby Co., St. Louis.
Lonberg, P. 1951. Changes in the size of the
lower jaw on account of age and loss of
teeth. Diss. Esselte AB, Stockholm.
Pietrokowski, J. & Massler, M. 1967. Ridge
remodeling after tooth extraction in rats.
References '
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Address:
School of Dentistry
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda Ca 92354 U.S.A.