The Use of Coronary Displaced Flap and Deepithelialized Free Graft in the Treatment of Multiple Adjacent Gingival Recessions - A Randomized Controlled Clinical Study

Successful treatment of multiple gingival recessions (MRG) is a major challenge in periodontal plastic surgery due to complicated predisposing anatomical features of the surrounding tissues, such as a thin gingival phenotype or a limited zone of keratinized gingiva, variations in the depth and width of adjacent gingival recessions, shallow vestibulum and coronally inserted frenums and/or plica.The application of coronary advanced flap (CAF) or tunnel technique (TUN) with connective tissue graft (CTG) gives the best results in the therapy of MRG The application of connective tissue grafts in combination with various surgical techniques is accepted as the "gold standard" in GR therapy. A limitation in the application of CTG is the limited region of the donor site, especially in cases where a larger dimension of the CTG is required, or if the thickness of the hard palate tissue is inadequate. Techniques for obtaining subepithelial CTG (S-CTG), whether it is the trap-door technique or the single incision technique, are often associated with postoperative pain and discomfort, as well as necrosis/dehiscence of the palatal flap at the donor site.

In order to overcome these limitations and obtain a firmer and more uniform CTG, especially when the thickness of the palatal tissue is inadequate (≤2.5 mm) and when a large dimension of the graft in the apico-coronary or mesio-distal direction is required, deepithelialization of the free gingival graft has been proposed (D-FGG). D-FGG has also been shown to be less prone to postoperative contraction, as it consists predominantly of collagen-rich connective tissue from the lamina propria, while adipose/glandular tissue is minimally represented. FGG can be deepithelialized intraorally with a diamond bur or diode laser, or extraorally with a scalpel. Despite all the biological advantages of D-FGG, there is scarce evidence in the literature about its histological characteristics after intraoral and extraoral deepithelialization, as well as the clinical outcomes of grafts thus obtained in combination with CAF in the treatment of MGR. Therefore, this aims of the study are to investigate the clinical efficacy and postoperative patient morbidity using D-FGG and modified CAF in the treatment of MGR, as well as to evaluate the histological characteristics of grafts obtained using two different deepithelialization techniques.