Functions of gingival fibers - Hold the marginal gingiva against the tooth - Provide rigidity to the marginal gingiva to withstand mastication forces - Stabilize the marginal gingiva by uniting it with attached gingiva and tooth's cementum layer

Effects of periodontitis on gingival fibers - Breached gingival fibers cannot regenerate - Destruction of gingival fibers leads to increased depth of gingival sulcus - Deeper sulcus allows more debris and bacteria to remain in contact with delicate epithelia

Types of gingival fibers - Gingival fibers extend from cementum into attached gingiva - Some fibers extend coronally into crest of free gingiva - Other fibers extend horizontally over crest of alveolar bone and then apically to connect on facial aspect of buccal plate - Dentogingival group has fibers extending towards crest, laterally, and downward along cortex of alveolar bone - Circular group exists entirely within gingiva and doesn't contact the tooth - Transseptal group spans interproximal tissue between adjacent teeth

Additional types of gingival fibers - Semicircular fibers run through facial and lingual gingiva around each tooth - Semicircular fibers attach to interproximal surfaces of the same tooth - Transgingival fibers run between two non-adjacent teeth - Transgingival fibers are embedded in cementum of proximal surfaces - Transgingival fibers pass around the tooth in the middle of the two attached teeth

References - Itoiz ME, Carranza FA (2002). The Gingiva. In Newman MG, Takei HH, Carranza FA (eds.). Carranzas Clinical Periodontology (9th ed.). Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company. pp.26–7. - Capnocytophaga sp. - Preston D. Miller - Willoughby D. Miller - Carl E. Misch