A two-year prospective study of coronally positioned flap with or without acellular dermal matrix graft.

AIM: Evaluation of the treatment of gingival recessions with coronally positioned flap with or without acellular dermal matrix allograft (ADM) after a period of 24 months.

METHODS

Thirteen patients with bilateral gingival recessions were included. The defects were randomly assigned to one of the treatments: coronally positioned flap plus ADM or coronally positioned flap alone. The clinical measurements were taken before the surgeries and after 6, 12 and 24 months.

RESULTS

At baseline, the mean values for recession height were 3.46 and 3.58 mm for the defects treated with and without the graft, respectively (p>0.05). No significant differences between the groups were observed after 6 and 12 months in this parameter. However, after 24 months, the group treated with coronally positioned flap alone showed a greater recession height when compared with the group treated with ADM (1.62 and 1.15 mm, respectively--p<0.05). A significant increase in the thickness of keratinized tissue was observed in the group treated with ADM as compared with coronally positioned flap alone (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

ADM may reduce the residual gingival recession observed after 24 months in defects treated with coronally positioned flap. In addition, a greater gingival thickness may be achieved when the graft is used.