A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial to Compare Vestibular Incision Subperiosteal Access and Sulcular Tunnel Access Root Coverage Procedures to Treat Gingival Recession.

The aim of this randomized prospective study was to compare clinical and patient-centered outcomes of Miller Class I and II gingival recession defects treated with acellular dermal matrix (ADM) grafts and either vestibular incision subperiosteal tunneling access (VISTA) or sulcular tunnel access (STA) techniques. A total of 29 gingival recession defects in nine patients were assessed to determine clinical outcomes, including probing depth (PD), gingival recession (GR), width of keratinized tissue (KT), width of attached tissue (AT), tissue thickness at the gingival margin (TT1), and tissue thickness 4 mm apical to the gingival margin (TT2). Visual analog scale (VAS) assessment of patient-perceived pain, bleeding, swelling, and changes in activity were assessed postoperatively at 7 and 30 days, and professional assessment of postoperative esthetics using the Pink Esthetic Score (PES) was performed at 6 months. All sites demonstrated significant improvements in midfacial GR. No statistically significant differences were noted between the VISTA and STA groups for clinical or patient-centered outcomes, except for preferable midfacial AT in the VISTA sites at 6 months. These findings indicate that both surgical techniques can be used with ADM grafts to achieve improvements in root coverage, alterations in periodontal phenotype, and improved esthetics with high levels of patient satisfaction.