A new digital evaluation protocol applied in a retrospective analysis of periodontal plastic surgery of gingival recessions

This research aimed to develop a new digital evaluation protocol to objectively quantify the volumetric changes of root coverage periodontal plastic surgery when combined with connective tissue graft. Consecutive patients with Cairo recession type 1 (RT1) or Cairo recession type 2 (RT2) were treated. Accurate study models obtained at baseline and follow-ups were optically scanned. Healing dynamics were measured by calculating volume differences between time points. Nineteen patients were treated between December 2014 and January 2019. At 3-month follow-up, root coverage was 95.6% (+/- 14.5%) with tunnel and connective tissue graft (TUN + CTG) technique, and 88.9% (+/- 20.5%) with the vestibular incision subperiosteal tunnel access and connective tissue graft (VISTA + CTG) technique. Recession decreased 1.33 (+/- 0.86) mm and 1.42 (+/- 0.92) mm, respectively (p = 0.337). At 6-month follow-up, root coverage was 96.5% (+/- 10.4%) with the TUN + CTG and 93.9% (+/- 10.3%) with the VISTA + CTG. Recession decreased 1.35 (+/- 0.85) mm and 1.45 (+/- 0.82) mm, respectively (p = 0.455). Complete root coverage was achieved in 86.7% (+/- 0.4%) with TUN + CTG and 70.6% (+/- 0.5%) with VISTA + CTG. No statistically significant differences were found between techniques. The digital protocol presented proved to be a non-invasive technique for accurate measurements of clinical outcomes. Both techniques reduce gingival recessions, with no statistically significant differences.