Connective tissue graft for root coverage in Chinese patients

Objectives: The recent literatures indicated the connective tissue graft as highly predictable root coverage surgical procedure. However, reports of connective tissue graft for treatment of gingival recession on Chinese patients were seldom seen. The objective of this study was to observe the results of connective tissue graft for treatment of local gingival recession in Chinese patients. Methods: Ten localized gingival recession defects in five Chinese patients, who were systemically healthy, were involved in this study. All recessions fell into Miller class I or II or III. All defects were treated with connective tissue graft covered by a coronally advanced partial-thickness pedicle flap. The gingival recession, attachment loss, and keratinized gingival width were evaluated at baseline (before surgery), 6 month and 1 year after surgery. Results: Gingival recession decreased significantly from 4.35±2.10mm at baseline to 0.75±0.79mm at 6 months (P<0.01), and to 0.45±0.44mm at 1 year (P<0.01), representing a reduction of 3.90±2.22mm at 1 year post-operation. The root coverage was from 60% to 100%, with mean 87.25% at 1 year after surgery. Complete root coverage was accomplished in 4 out of 10 (40%) treated recession defects. A significantly clinical attachment gain was observed both at 6 months (P<0.001) and at 1 year after surgery (P<0.001) (attachment loss: 5.65±2.04mm at baseline; 1.75±0.79mm at 6 months; 1.65±0.82mm at 1 year). The mean attachment gain at 1 year post-operation was 4.00±1.97mm. The width of keratinized gingival tissue increased significantly from 1.95±1.48mm pre-operation to 4.70±0.67mm (P<0.001) at 6 months and to 4.90±0.57mm (P<0.001) at 1 year post-operation. Sensitivity existed on 7 of 10 denuded root surfaces before surgery and 0 after surgery. Conclusions: The connective tissue graft with coronally advanced partial-thickness pedicle flap could obtain significantly good clinical outcomes for the treatment of local gingival recession in Chinese patients.