Measurement of gingiva thickness by ultrasonic method

Gingiva is the outermost layer of periodontium which surrounds and supports and connects the teeth to alveolar bone. Thickness value of the periodontium exhibits variations among individuals as well as among the teeth of the same person. In the study to be developed, it is intended to design and implement a system that will determine the gingiva thickness which is quite important criteria in the fields of basic mouth health, surgical procedures in mouth, orthodontic care processes, plastic surgery and implantology by using A mode ultrasonic method. This method bases on ultrasonic pulse-echo principle. By using a ultrasonic transducer, a high frequency and high power electrical signal is converted to a sound signal and send to the tissue that gingiva thickness to be measured. The ultrasonic wave reflects when encountered surfaces with different acoustic impedance. Reflected signals from gingiva tissue received via transducer and processed then the thickness information belongs to measured tissue is obtained. The high frequency used in the study, has provided more accurate results to be obtained by increasing resolution used in measurements. Control and computation processes in the system have been implemented by a microcontroller.