LAUSR

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical and patient-reported outcomes following surgical root coverage at RT1 gingival recession defects at mandibular incisors, using either a conventional Free Gingival Graft (FGG) or a modified FGG (ModFGG). METHODS 30 patients with RT1 gingival recessions at mandibular incisors were enrolled and randomly allocated to either a control (FGG) or test group (ModFGG). Evaluations of clinical changes (recession depth, height of keratinized tissue) and patient satisfaction were performed over a follow-up period of 12 months. Post-surgical changes of keratinized tissue height (shrinkage) were assessed from 1 month and onwards. RESULTS ModFGG resulted in more pronounced root coverage at 1 year compared to FGG (91.8% vs 60.7%, p<0.001). Height of keratinized tissue was improved by 4.2 mm and 2.2 mm (p<0.001), respectively, with significantly less shrinkage in ModFGG. Post-surgical morbidity was significantly lower for ModFGG at 2 weeks and patient satisfaction was significantly higher 12 months after treatment (9.1 vs 5.4; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS ModFGG represents a valid approach for the management of RT1 recession defects at mandibular incisors. The technique is superior to traditional FGG in terms of root coverage, gain of keratinized tissue height and patient satisfaction. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.