Cell surface patterns in normal human oral gingival epithelium. A quantitative scanning electron microscopy approach.

We used scanning electron microscopy to study the morphological surface patterns of cells that cover the attached gingiva and intervestibular papilla of the human oral gingival epithelium. Five patterns are described on the basis of the overall appearance of morphological surface markers: microvilli, parallel, fingerprint, reticular and pitted. Statistical analyses detected significant differences in the frequency of each pattern in both regions of the oral gingival epithelium, and showed the reticular and fingerprint types to predominate. We propose that our description of the different morphological surface types may be of use as a standard for subsequent cytological studies and characterizations of morphological alterations in diseased gingiva.