Randomized clinical trial evaluating single maxillary gingival recession treatment with connective tissue graft and tunnel or trapezoidal flap: 2-year follow-up

Background The literature lacks long-term evidence regarding outcomes of the coronally advanced tunnel flap (TUN) combined with connective tissue graft (CTG) when compared to the trapezoidal coronally advanced flap (CAF) and CTG combination. This study presents 2-year results of a randomized clinical trial comparing CTG combined with either CAF or TUN in the treatment of single maxillary gingival recession (GR) defects. Methods Thirty-nine patients, each contributing a single Miller Class I or II GR defect, were treated by CAF+CTG (control;n = 19) or TUN+CTG (test;n = 20) and completed the 2-year follow up. Clinical, patient centered, and esthetic evaluations were performed and differences among groups were analyzed. Results At 2 years, mean root coverage for control and test group was 89.5% +/- 14.6% and 87.7% +/- 18.4%, respectively (P = 0.5). The corresponding complete root coverage prevalence was 68.4% and 50% (P = 0.4). Dentin hypersensitivity significantly decreased for both groups. The two groups showed improvement in esthetics, as assessed by both professionals and patients, without significant intergroup differences (P > 0.5). TUN+CTG sites were much more likely to present improvement in root coverage between 6 months and 2 years, exhibiting creeping attachment of 0.7 +/- 0.6 mm. Conclusions At 2 years of follow up, both CAF+CTG and TUN+CTG resulted in significant clinical and esthetic improvements and provided similar results in the treatment of single maxillary GRs.