Reconstruction of the lost interproximal papilla - Presentation of surgical and nonsurgical approaches

Modern esthetic dentistry involves not only the restoration of lost teeth a nd their associated hard tissues, but increasingly the management and recon struction of the encasing gingiva with adequate surgical techniques. The lo ss of interproximal dental papillae may cause functional, phonetic, and dev astating esthetic problems. Complete and predictable restoration of lost in terdental papillae remains one of the biggest challenges in periodontal rec onstructive surgery On reviewing the literature, publications involving sur gical and nonsurgical techniques for papilla reconstruction are basically c ase presentations. Very little scientific data concerning long-term success and predictability of specific techniques has been published so far. Star- ting with facts about the anatomy and morphology of the interdental tissues , this article gives an overview of surgical and nonsurgical techniques to restore lost interproximal dental papillae.