Treatment of gingival recession: Comparative study between subepithelial connective tissue graft and guided tissue regeneration

Background: Various procedures have been proposed to treat gingival recessi on, but few studies compare these procedures to each other. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a clinical comparison of subepithelial connectiv e tissue graft (SCTG) and guided tissue regeneration (GTR) with a collagen membrane in the treatment of gingival recessions in humans. Methods: Twenty-four defects were treated in 12 patients who presented cani ne or pre-molar Miller Class I and/or II bilateral gingival recessions. Bot h treatments were performed in all patients, and clinical measurements were obtained at baseline and 18 months after surgery. These clinical measureme nts included gingival recession height (GR), root coverage (RC), probing de pth (PD), keratinized tissue width (KT), and final esthetic result. Results: Both SCTG and GTR with a bioabsorbable membrane and bone graft dem onstrated significant clinical and esthetic improvement for gingival recess ion coverage. The SCTG group was statistically significantly better than GT R for height of GR (SCTG = 0.2 mm, GTR = 1.12 mm, P = 0.02) and KT (SCTG = 4.58 mm, GTR = 2.5 mm, P <0.0001). However, PD was statistically significan tly better for GTR than SCTG treatment (GTR = 1.66 mm, SCTG = 1.00, P = 0.0 1). The 2 procedures were statistically similar in root coverage (SCTG = 95 .6%, GTR = 84.2%, P = 0.073). The esthetic condition after both treatments was satisfactory (P = 0.024). Conclusions: It was concluded that the gingival recessions treated with the SCTG group were superior for GR, RC, and KT clinical parameters, while GTR demonstrated better PD reduction. The final esthetic results were similar using both techniques.