Efficacy of the supraperiosteal envelope technique: a preliminary comparative clinical study.

The purpose of this clinical study was to compare the effectiveness of the supraperiosteal envelope technique as performed by three surgeons with different amounts of professional experience during a 6-month observation period. Sixty-eight gingival recessions in 35 healthy patients were selected and included in clinical recordings. They were statistically evaluated at baseline and 6 months later. First, clinical parameters (attachment level, pocket depth, recession height, recession width, and gingival keratinized tissue height) were calibrated between the three operators. Then, single or multiple gingival recessions were selected and surgical techniques were standardized by the surgeons (A, B, C). The root coverage percentages obtained by the three operators were 81% for operator A, 85% for operator B, and 89% for operator C, for an average of 85%; initial recession height values were 2.5 mm (A), 4.3 mm (B), and 4.4 mm (C). The preliminary results of this trial showed the capacity of this surgical technique to provide favorable clinical benefits irrespective of the initial dimensions of recession-type defects and irrespective of the learning curve and experience of operators.