A computerized method for quantitative estimation of the epithelium-connective tissue interface applied to the gingiva of various age groups

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Abstract
A computerized method has been developed for the quantitative estimation of the contact area between the epithelium and connective tissue of oral mucosa. Magnified (×200) paper replicas are produced from histologic sections (10 microns) and are placed in a fixed system of co-ordinates. By recording the co-ordinates to points placed at intervals along the basement membranes the course of these structures is described. The resulting curves are analysed by a computer, programmed to calculate the area of the epithelium-connective tissue interface on the basis of triangulation. The study utilized thirty gingival specimens in which the contact area between the epithelium and connective tissue had been quantitated in an earlier study using a trapezoid method. The results of the two different methods were moderately close. The results of the computerized method confirmed the previous finding of an increased contact area between the epithelium and connective tissue from prepuberty to 20-25 years of age. It is concluded that the computerized triangulation method, developed in the present study, is a more satisfactory method of measuring the area of the epithelium-connective tissue interface than the trapezoid method.