Guided tissue regeneration versus mucogingival surgery in the treatment of human buccal gingival recession.

A surgical technique involving membranes was used to treat localized human buccal recessions 3 mm to 8 mm. The results on 25 patients (test group) were evaluated 18 months postoperatively and compared with the results obtained in 25 other patients (control group) having undergone mucogingival surgery. In the test group, a trapezoidal flap with a large base was raised beyond the mucogingival junction. The exposed root surface was scaled thoroughly to a concave shape. A membrane was bent and adapted onto the concave root surface. The flap was sutured far coronally and the membrane removed one month later. The control patients underwent a 2-step procedure, consisting of a free gingival graft and a coronally positioned flap. The amount of root coverage obtained was similar in the 2 groups (test = 72.73%; control = 70.87%), although the clinical attachment gain (test = 5.12 mm; control = 3.56 mm) and pocket variation (test = 1 mm reduction; control = 0.06 mm increase) differed significantly (P < 0.001). The keratinized tissue width was greater in the control group. The regression analysis showed that the amount of covered root surface after treatment was in strict correlation with the depth of the original recession in the test group, while no correlation was found in the control group. The expected root coverage was greater in the test group when the recession was greater than 4.98 mm, while it was greater in the control group when the recession was less than 4.98 mm. These results indicate that a guided tissue regeneration procedure can be used to successfully treat recession. The membrane procedure compared favorably with the mucogingival surgery in the treatment of deep recession.