Clinical Comparison of Subepithelial Connective Tissue Grafts and Coronally Advanced Flaps with Emdogain in the Treatment of Gingival Recessions

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare subepithelial connective tissue grafts (SCTG) and coronally advanced flaps (CAF) with the addition of Emdogain in the treatment of gingival recession. Materials and Methods: This interventional randomized controlled clinical trial involved eleven patients and 31 teeth demonstrating facial recessions of > 2 mm identified as Miller’s class I or II. Recession depth (RD), recession width (RW), probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and keratinized tissue (KT), were measured at baseline and at 4, 12 and 24 weeks postoperation. Before surgery the samples were randomized to receive either a CAF with Emdogain (test group) or a connective tissue graft (control group). Data were analyzed using independent t-test and univariate analysis of variance. Results: Twenty-four weeks after therapy, the mean root coverage in the test and control cases was 50.24% and 65.82%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.759). Within the 24-week follow-up period both procedures resulted in statistically significant improvement in RD, RW and CAL, but not in PD. KT increased 0.7 mm in the SCTG group while it decreased 0.5 mm in the Emdogain group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The SCTG procedure provided better results in comparison to CAF with Emdogain. However the later method is easier and less technique-sensitive. Therefore it can be considered as a possible substitute for the treatment of gingival recessions, especially when increasing KT is not required.