What is "stippling"

Stipple \Stip"ple\, Stippling \Stip"pling\, n. (Engraving) A mode of execution which produces the effect by dots or small points instead of lines.

2. (Paint.) A mode of execution in which a flat or even tint is produced by many small touches.

Stipple \Stip"ple\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stippled; p. pr. & vb. n. Stippling.] [D. stippelen to make points, to spot, dot, from stippel, dim. of stip a dot, spot.]

1. To engrave by means of dots, in distinction from engraving in lines.

   The interlaying of small pieces can not altogether avoid a broken, stippled, spotty effect.
   --Milman.

2. To paint, as in water colors, by small, short touches which together produce an even or softly graded surface.

n. A stippled pattern. vb. (present participle of stipple English)

Stippling is the creation of a pattern simulating varying degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists.

The gingiva often possess a textured surface that is referred to as being stippled (engraved points). Stippling only presents on the attached gingiva bound to underlying alveolar bone, not the freely moveable alveolar mucosa. Stippling used to be thought to indicate health, but it has since been shown that smooth gingiva is not an indication of disease, unless it is smooth due to a loss of previously existing stippling.

Stippling is a consequence of the microscopic elevations and depressions of the surface of the gingival tissue due to the connective tissue projections within the tissue. "The degree of keratinization and the prominence of stippling appear to be related." To be more specific, stippling occurs at sites of fusion of the epithelial ridges (also known as rete pegs) and correspond to the fusion of the valleys created by the connective tissue papillae.