Evaluation of root coverage with pedicled buccal fat pad in class III and class IV gingival recession defects

Background: Gingival recession (GR) is a common clinical feature of periodontal disease and is an undesirable condition. More than 50% of the population has one or more sites with GR >= 1 mm. Material and Methods: In this study 15 subjects were subjected to initial periodontal therapy such as ultrasonic scaling and root planning with hand instruments and curettes. Patient is motivated for home care. The buccal fat pad is harvested and sutured in the gingival recession area and followed up for 6 months and root coverage was calculated. Results: At baseline mean recession of 5.60 +/- 1.18 mm, probing depth of 0.73 +/- 0.59 mm, clinical attachment loss of 6.40 +/- 1.18 mm were recorded. At the end of 6 months, the mean recession was reduced from 5.60 +/- 1.18 mm to 2.87 +/- 0.74 mm, probing depth was increased from 0.73 +/- 0.59 mm to 1.73 +/- 0.70 mm and clinical attachment loss was decreased from 6.40 +/- 1.18 mm to 4.53 +/- 0.83 mm.The difference between baseline score and six months score for all three parameters are statistically significant. Conclusion: Buccal fat pad is a predictable procedure to cover Miller's class III and class IV gingival recession defects. There was a definitive improvement in clinical parameters (reduction in gingival recession, increased probing depth, gain in clinical attachment) after 6 months. There was 46.78% improvement in root coverage which was statistically significant.