CYTOLOGIC CHARACTERISTIC OF THE CELLULAR COMPOSITION OF THE GUM MUCOUS MEMBRANE IN SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN

Abstract

The aim: To establish the characteristics of the gingival mucosa cellular composition in school-age children. Materials and methods: We made a dental and cytological examination on 150 Ukrainian (Poltava city) children aged 6, 12, and 15 years. Smears were got by scraping from the gum mucosa and stained with a May-Grunwald solution. Cytograms were made by using a Biorex-3 BM-500T microscope with a DCM-900 digital microphotographic attachment. The programs were adapted for these types of studies. We used a magnification of 1000. The t-test for paired samples was used to compare values. The difference was considered statistically significant at P<0.05. Results: The number of superficial epitheliocytes in children aged 12 and 15 was significantly higher than in 6-year-olds but did not differ from each other. Conclusions: The process of physiological keratinization of the cells of the gingival mucosa in schoolchildren is diverse and keratinization occurs both due to the phenomenon of physiological necrosis, namely, apoptosis of surface cells and due to orthokeratosis. From the age of 6, the average number of surface cells in cytograms decreases, while the number of intermediate and dead keratinized cells increases up to 12 years and remains on the previous level in children of 15 years.