Clinical evaluation of coronally advanced flap with or without collagen matrix graft for the treatment of miller class I gingival recessions

The aim of this randomized, controlled, parallel study was to evaluate and compare the effect of a coronally advanced flap (CAF) alone and in combination with a collagen matrix (CM) in the treatment of Miller Class I multiple recession defects. A total of 20 patients (12 female and 8 male) with ≥ 3 mm Miller Class I multiple recessions were included. The patients were divided into two groups, CAF+CM and CAF alone. Parameters such as probing depth (PD), recession height (RH), recession width (RW), clinical attachment level (CAL), keratinized tissue width (KTW), gingival thickness (GT), mean root coverage (MRC) and complete root coverage (CRC), root coverage esthetic score (RES) and patient satisfaction were evaluated at baseline and 12 months after treatment. Baseline parameters were similar between the groups (p> 0.05). The MRC at 12 months in the CAF+CM and CAF alone group was %66.09±13.23 and %69.99±28.27, respectively. No significant difference was found among the groups in terms of MRC (p>0.05). Recession height in both groups showed a significant decrease after 12 months compared to baseline (p<0.05). However, no significant difference was found between the groups (p>0.05). At 12 months, the CAF+ CM group showed a statistically significant increase in GT compared to the CAF alone group (p<0.05). The total mean increase of GT in the CAF+CM and CAF alone groups were 0.33± 0.09 mm and 0.06±0.05 mm, respectively. Intergroup comparisons were significant only for GT increase in favour of combined group (p<0.05). The mean RES and patient satisfaction scores of the two groups showed no significant differences (p>0.05). Although CAF+CM and CAF alone were effective in terms of root coverage for multiple recession defects, it can be concluded that the combination of CAF and a CM is more effective for increasing GT when compared to CAF alone.