Comparative Efficacy of Coronally Advanced Flap with and Without Guided Tissue Regeneration in the Management of Gingival Recession Defects: A Split-Mouth Trial

BACKGROUND: The gingival recession causes tooth sensitivity, poor esthetics, and tooth mobility in severe cases. Scientific documentation revealed effective root coverage (RC) and increased keratinized tissue heights acquired with the coronally advanced flap (CAF) for multiple recession defects. OBJECTIVES: This research evaluates and compares the efficacy of CAF procedures with and without Type I collagen bio-absorbable membrane in guided tissue regeneration (GTR) in the treatment of Miller's Class I and II gingival recession. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 30 sites from 15 patients were selected for the study after fulfilling the presurgical phase of treatment. The chosen sites were randomly allocated into Group A CAF and Group B (CAF + Resorbable GTR membrane). The clinical variables such as plaque index, gingival index, recession depth (RD), recession width (RW), width of keratinized gingiva (WKG), clinical attachment level (CAL), and surface area of the defect were recorded at the baseline and 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: Both therapies resulted in a notable gain in RC with a mean of 73.13% and 71.60%, respectively, but it was not statistically significant when compared between the groups. Both the RD and RW were significantly reduced from baseline to 6 months postoperatively. Although there was a gain in WKG and CAL in both experimental sites, no significant difference was observed between both the groups. CONCLUSION: Although there are several RC procedures, CAF furnishes a foreseeable, straightforward, and appropriate perspective for treating Miller's Class I and II recessions. Integrating this approach with placing a bio-absorbable membrane does not seem to improve the results following surgical treatment of such defects. However, both groups showed the potential advantage of achieving RC.