The color of gingiva studied by visual color matching. Part II. Kind, location, and personal difference in color of gingiva.
A replica of natural gingival color can be fabricated in a prosthesis. A precise record of gingival color helps to follow-up oral and systemic diseases. A healthy gingival color according to the "Periodontal Workshop Committee I" is 'pink' but no indication is given for color variations by age or position. For more precise definition, therefore, gingival color was examined in the maxillary and mandibular anterior regions by visual color matching using standard color chips after Munsell's system. Gingival color was measured in 60 subjects, in 18 locations around the anterior teeth. 1. The gingival color varies in Hue from 10 RP to 2.5 YR, being mainly between 2.5 R and 5 R; in Value from 4 to 8, maximum between 6 and 7.5; and in Chroma from 1.5 to 7, mainly from 4 to 5. 2. No difference in gingival color is recognized between the male and female, or between left and right sides of the jaw. 3. Gingival color varies with the position of papillary, marginal, and attached gingivae, and the parts corresponding to different teeth have different colors. 4. The gingival color of young persons, differs markedly from that of older people. In all the parts, red Hue is more tinged with purple in the old than in the young; Value is higher in the young; and Chroma is higher in the old.