Gingival Enlargement Post-orthodontic Treatment

November 9, 2026 updated by: Ying S. Wang, Texas A&M University

Resolution of Orthodontic Treatment-associated Gingival Enlargement: A Prospective Longitudinal Study

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate spontaneous resolution of gingival enlargement which occurred during fixed orthodontic treatment.

Participants who completed orthodontic therapy will be recruited for the study, and morphological changes and related factors will be assessed.

Also online survey will be used to assess patient reported outcome regarding their gingival appearance.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Ying S. Wang, DDS, MS
  • Phone Number: 2114-828-8282
  • Email: yswang@tamu.edu

Study Contact Backup

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

11 years to 21 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Graduate Orthodontic Clinic

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Modified Seymour Gingival Encroachment index ≥30% in the labial anterior sextants at the time the removal of fixed orthodontic appliances.
  • Age 11 to 19 at the time the fixed orthodontic appliances were first placed.
  • On fixed orthodontic appliances for a minimum of 18 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

b. Exclusion criteria

  1. Active periodontitis, defined by the presence of clinical attachment loss (CAL) on any of the 12 anterior teeth at the time of orthodontic bracket debonding

  2. Does not have/does not use a smartphone (FOR QUALTRICS)

  3. Pregnant patients

  4. History of periodontal surgery

  5. Patients not able to give consent due to intellectual disabilities

  6. Patients with medication which can induce GE (e.g. calcium channel blockers, anticonvulsants/phenytoin, Ciclosporin)

  7. Subjects diagnosed with conditions which can present with GE (e.g. leukemia, vitamin C deficiency, plasma cell gingivitis, soft tissue pathology, hereditary gingival fibromatosis)

    • Patients with prominent defective restorations

      c. Exit criteria

    • Patients developing conditions that result in them meeting any of the above exclusion criteria (e.g., starting a medication that is known to affect the gingiva).

    • Patients requiring surgical periodontal therapy or other urgent treatment on the anterior sextants, at any time point during the study.

    • Patients unable or unwilling to continue in the study.

    • Patients missing the initial (3-7 weeks) postoperative visit.

    • Patients who fail to complete the questionnaire at the applicable visit.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: COHORT
  • Time Perspectives: PROSPECTIVE

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Adolescence who completed fixed orthodontic treatment
Other: No intervention (observational study)

No intervention will be done during the study. It is strictly observational.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Gingival Enlargement (GE) Index Score
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months.

Enlargement of bucco-lingual direction scale (Seymour 1985), Extent of encroachment scale (Ellis 2021)
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months.
Volumetric Changes in Buccal Gingival Tissue (m^3)
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months.

Gingival volumetric changes in the anterior area will be compared using an intraoral scan where the scans will be overlayed to compare differences is volume change.
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient reported outcome
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months

Patients will answer survey questions regarding their gingival appearance.
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months
Changes in height of buccal papilla (mm)
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months

Changes in height of buccal papilla will be calculated in mm
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months
Periodontal probing depth (PPD)
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months

PPD will be assessed using periodontal probe (mm)
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months
Plaque Index (Silness & Löe, 1964)
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months

0 = No plaque.

  1. = A film of plaque adhering to the free gingival margin and adjacent area of the tooth. The plaque may be seen in situ only by using the probe on the tooth surface.
  2. = Moderate accumulation of soft deposits within the gingival pocket, or on the tooth and gingival margin which can be seen with the naked eye.
  3. = Abundance of soft matter within the gingival pocket and/or on the gingival margin.
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months
Gingival Index (Löe & Silness, 1963)
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months

0 = Absence of inflammation.

  1. = Mild inflammation. Slight cliange in color and little change in texture.
  2. = Moderate inflammation. Moderate glazing, redness, edema, and hypertrophy. Bleeding on pressure.
  3. = Severe inflammation. Marked redness and hypertrophy. Tendency to spontaneous bleeding. Ulceration.
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months
Gingival phenotype (Kan 2010)
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months

Outline of periodontal probe is visible = Thin Outline of periodontal probe is not visible = Thick
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months
Crown width (CW)
Time Frame: Day 0, 1 month, 6 months

measured in mm
Day 0, 1 month, 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Texas A&M University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

November 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 15, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 15, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 4, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

November 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 9, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY2026-0545

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Subscribe