Clinical appearance of normal gingival tissue in part reflects the underlying structure of epithelium and lamina propria. It has been described that particular shape, topographical distribution, and width of gingival are clearly functions of presence and position of erupted teeth. Moreover, tooth shape seems to have an important impact on the clinical features of surrounding gingiva and probably also underlying tooth-supporting periodontal tissue. The thickness of masticatory mucosa was studied

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... in a descriptive manner by conventional histology on cadaver jaws. Others assessed the mucosal thickness in edentulous patients using invasive method of injection needle, macroscopic measurement of histologic sections, a graduated periodontal probe or cephalometric radiographs. Noninvasive methods were performed with ultrasonic devices. A-mode ultrasonic device was used to measure tissue thickness in edentulous patients. B-mode was used to visualize soft and hard tissue relationships while also measuring soft tissue thickness. Among the various macroscopic features of gingiva, the gingival thickness (GT) is least discussed and not mentioned in the standard textbooks and journals. There are few terminologies which are not well defined in periodontal literature like periodontal phenotype, gingival phenotype, gingival architecture, gingival morphology, and GT; hence, this review article will put some light on these terminologies and literature review related to the clinical importance and relevance on masticatory mucosa thickness, chiefly on palatal mucosa and gingiva.