Treatment efficacy of gingival recession defects associated with non-carious cervical lesions: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: This systematic review aimed to compare the efficacy, defined in terms of the mean percentage of root coverage (mRC), of surgical treatment approaches combined with adhesive restorations of non-carious cervical lesions (NCCLs) to that of root coverage alone in patients with a single gingival recession (GR) and NCCL.

METHODS

A literature search was conducted to identify longitudinal studies reporting the mRC following treatment for the correction of GR defects associated with NCCLs using a combination of surgical and restorative techniques in systemically and periodontally healthy patients.

RESULTS

The search resulted in the retrieval of 12,409 records. Seven publications met the inclusion criteria for the qualitative synthesis of data. The mRCs ranged from 69% to 97%. In the medium term, the gingival margin position was more stable when a connective tissue graft (CTG) was used, independently of whether restoration of teeth with NCCLs was performed.

CONCLUSIONS

The strength of the evidence was limited by methodological heterogeneity in terms of study design as well as the unit and period of analysis, which precluded a meta-analysis. Although no definitive conclusion could be drawn due to the lack of sufficient evidence to estimate the effectiveness of the interventions, CTG-based procedures contributed to gingival margin stability regardless of the performance of restoration to treat NCCLs.