Balancing the white and the pink through periodontal plastic surgery

Abstract

Connective tissue has been used successfully in the treatment of gingival recession. In the mid-80s and late 90s, the periodontal literature presented various techniques such as free gingival graft, pedicle flaps, sub-epithelial connective tissue graft, acellular dermal matrix graft, and guided tissue regeneration to cover denuded root surface. Currently, connective tissue grafting is reliable treatment for esthetic root coverage. This paper presents a qualitative assessment of a surgical technique that uses a connective tissue graft, including a portion of epithelium in the shape of defect. This procedure enhances the healing of the covered root surface, increases the thickness of the soft tissue and improves esthetics. The criteria used for evaluation were: color, volume, texture and blending. This evaluation had demonstrated encouraging results from an esthetics view point.