Anatomical assessment of the palatal mucosa for connective tissue grafts

Abstract

The palatal mucosa and gingiva are histologically similar, hence used as an autologous donor site for connective tissue grafts in periodontal surgery. Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the palatal mucosa to obtain a histological quantitative data, and to compare the topographic relationship of the greater palatal artery (GPA) with the greater palatine nerve (GPN). The 32 hemimaxillae in Korean were prepared using conventional methods of tissue processing and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The obtained specimens were measured for the presence of the areas of entire palatal mucosa, submucosa and glandular tissue, the length from the alveolar crest to the GPA and the GPN, and the depth from the mucosal surface to each artery and nerve. The mean area of the entire palatal mucosa was 59.7, 53.2, 50.6, 57.6, and 73.2 mm2 and that of the submucosa was 36.6, 35.3, 33.3, 41.8, and 58.0 mm2 according to the tooth position from the canine, respectively. The glandular tissues were found in all the molars and the mean area was 15.1 (first molar) and 30.3 (second molar) mm2, respectively . The GPA with an average of 10.1 mm was located on the lateral side than the GPN with an average of 10.8 mm, but there was no statistically significant difference. Whereas, the depth of the GPA was 4.3 mm, which was statistical significantly deeper than that of the GPN (3.7 mm under the mucosal surface). These anatomical results provided the quantitative data on the palatal mucosa as an autologous donor site for connective tissue grafts.