Important player for the regulation of gingival connective tissue homeostasis is the fibroblast, cell able to synthesize and breakdown the collagen fibers and other proteins from the ground substance. In vitro studies have shown that fibroblasts from human normal gingiva produce collagens type I and type III, while cells derived from gingiva of patients with chronic periodontitis failed to produce detectable amounts of type III collagen (Hammouda et al., 1980; Chavier et al., 1984, as cited in B