A single-incision technique to harvest subepithelial connective tissue grafts from the palate

This article describes a new and simplified surgical approach to harvest su bepithelial connective tissue grafts from the palate. For this procedure, o nly a single incision parallel to the gingival margin is used ro access the donor site for graft preparation and harvesting. Grafts of variable size a nd thickness can be obtained. Since no band of epithelium is removed with t he connective tissue graft the palatal donor sire can heal with primary int ention. No stents or hemostatic agents are necessary to cover the donor are a postoperatively and suturing can be reduced to a minimum. The harvesting technique is illustrated step by step, and the clinical application of conn ective tissue grafts harvested with the proposed method is demonstrated wit h the coverage of a gingival recession.