Coronally advanced flap combined with connective tissue graft; treatment of choice for root coverage following recession?

Data sourcesMedline, The Cochrane Database Trials Register, Embase, supplemented by handsearching of five prominent periodontal journals, references from reviewed papers and contact with experts in the field of mucogingival surgery.Study selectionRandomised controlled trials (RCTs) with or without a split-mouth design, on human patients. RCTs had to compare at least two different surgical interventions on clearly specified recession defects, be over six months in duration and have clearly specified clinical measurements regarding root coverage.Data extraction and synthesisThe initial search for studies was carried out by one operator. The studies were quality assessed by two independent review authors using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Odds Ratios were combined for dichotomous data and mean differences in continuous data using a random-effect model. The strength of the evidence of included studies was assessed according to the GRADE recommendations for bias and heterogeneity.ResultsFifty-one RCTs were reviewed encompassing 1574 patients and 1744 recession defects. Eighty meta-analyses were conducted. Results showed that surgical intervention using a coronally advanced flap (CAF) in conjunction with a connective tissue graft (CTG) was more effective at obtaining complete root coverage (CRC), reduced recession (RecRed) and keratinised tissue (KT) gain compared to CAF alone. The use of barrier membranes with CAF showed no significant improvement to CAF alone with regard to CRC and RecRed. The use of enamel matrix derivatives (EMD) in conjunction with CAF had significant improvement in CRC, RecRed and KT gain compared to CAF alone. Using multiple techniques or biomaterials yielded similar or fewer benefits than simpler proceduresConclusionsTreatment of recession defects is best achieved with a coronally advanced flap combined with a connective tissue graft.