Cilnical comparison between free gingival graft with citric acid) subepithelial connective tissue graft) in denuded roots coverage

Gingival recession is a relatively prevalent gingival disorder which increases with age. The purpose of this study was to compare free gingival graft technique (with citric acid) with subepithelial connective tissue graft in the coverage of denuded root surfaces of ClI and ClII Miller. Ten systemically healthy patients with at least two bilateral recession defects of clI and clII Miller participated in this study. After oral hygiene instruction and reaching plaque index below 2% and gingival bleading index below 10%, patients entered surgical phase. For each patient,the recession was treated using free gingival graft with citric acid on one side (group A) and with subepithelial connective tissue (group B) on the other side randomly. Recession width (RW), recession depth (RD), the width of Keratinized tissue (KT), probing depth probing attachment level were measured before and three months after surgery. The results were statistically analyzed by Mann-Whitney test. Keratinized tissue increased significantly after both surgical treatments, however, no significant difference was found between the groups. Furthermore, decrease in RD and RW with subepithelial connective tissue graft technique was significantly more than that with free gingival graft. In agreement with the results of other studies, the present study shows subepithelial connective tissue graft as a more efficient technique for root coverage, as compared with free gingival graft.