Gingival Displacement in the Vertical and Horizontal Dimension under the Condition of Mild Gingivitis—A Randomized Clinical Study

This randomized clinical study aimed at quantifying the gingival displacement performance in the vertical and horizontal directions of the 3M™ Astringent Retraction Paste (3M Oral Care, Seefeld, Germany) in comparison with the double-cord technique with aluminum chloride as an astringent. Afterward, any soft-tissue changes were assessed for 12 months. After inducing mild gingivitis, 18 probands received the intervention ‘cord’ and 22 probands received the intervention ‘paste’ at the palatal half of upper premolars prior to conventional impression making. The resulting plaster casts were digitized and analyzed for the vertical and horizontal gingival displacement, applying a newly developed computer-assisted methodology. The entire palatal half of the tooth was evaluated instead of only single sites. Under the condition of mild gingivitis, the gingival displacement performance was comparable for both techniques in the horizontal direction (width) and only somewhat better for the cord technique in the vertical direction (depth). The magnitude of displacement was in a similar range in both directions, with somewhat higher values in the vertical direction. The marginal gingiva height changes were of such low extent during the follow-up period of 12 months with only minimally higher values for the paste that they cannot be considered as clinically relevant recessions