A longitudinal study into the depth of the clinical gingival sulcus of human canine teeth during and after eruption

The depth of the healthy clinical gingival sulcus was investigated in 32 school children by measuring with a flexible rule the sulcus depth of 43 erupting permanent canine teeth. Crown height and the distance to occlusion were measured on casts. One third of the subjects were studied formore than a year, the longest period being 109 weeks. Initial measurements of sulcus depth, before any teeth had reached occlusion, were in the 4.0−13.0 mm range. Final measurements, 17 teeth then being in occlusion, were in the 1.5−6.5 mm range. The sulcus depths of 57 adjacent occluding teeth remained in the 0.5−4.5 mm range. For teeth having a crown height of up to 2 mm when first seen, measurements of sulcus depth and crown height were pooled about monthly intervals. Curves plotted from the means of these values showed a generally smooth increase in crown height and similar decrease in sulcus depth, maximal early in eruption, although no two teeth behaved identically.