A 12 Months Clinical and Radiographic Study to Assess the Efficacy of Open Flap Debridement and Subepithelial Connective Tissue Graft in Management of Supracrestal Defects

BACKGROUND: An improvement in clinical parameters along with regeneration is the desired outcome of periodontal therapy. The aim of this study was to analyze and contrast the efficaciousness of combined open flap debridement (OFD) and subepithelial connective tissue graft (SECTG) to OFD in the management of periodontal supracrestal defects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Totally, 20 paired sites exhibiting supracrestal defects were subjected to surgical treatment adopting the split mouth design. The defects were divided randomly for treatment with OFD and SECTG (test) or OFD alone (control). The clinical effectiveness of the two arms of treatment was evaluated at 6 months and 12 months post-operatively by assessing clinical and radiographic parameters. The measurements carried out included probing pocket depth (PPD), relative attachment level (RAL), gingival marginal level, radiographic bone level (BL). RESULTS: The mean reduction in PPD at 0-12 months was 3.20 ± 0.82 mm and RAL gain of 3.10 ± 1.51 mm was observed, the OFD and SECTG (test) group; corresponding observations for OFD (control) were 2.10 ± 0.63 mm and 1.90 ± 0.57 mm. However, BL changes did not follow the pattern of clinical improvement on the radiographic assessment of either treatment group. Post-operative evaluation was made. Improvement in different clinical parameters was statistically significant (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Treatment of supracrestal defects with a combination of OFD and SECTG led to significantly better clinical results compared to OFD alone.