Prediction of root coverage for single recessions in anterior teeth: a 6-month study.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive values of baseline inter-dental papilla height (IPH), loss of inter-dental papilla height (LPH), avascular exposed root surface area (AERSA) and inter-dental clinical attachment level (ICAL) measurements on complete root coverage (CRC) of single recession defects treated with coronally advanced flap and connective tissue graft technique (CAF+CTG).

Material & Methods: A total of 122 patients with one isolated gingival recession were enrolled. All recession defects without loss of ICAL (ID-CAL) (RT1) and with an amount of ID-CAL equal or smaller to the buccal attachment loss (RT2), located at upper and lower anterior teeth were treated with CAF+CTG. IPH, LPH, AERSA and ICAL parameters were analysed for possible correlation with CRC after 6 months.

Results: The CRC was 86.7% for RT1, 74.2% for RT2 groups. The ROC analyses revealed acceptable cut-off points for baseline AERSA, IPH and LPH for achieving CRC. The results of logistic regression analyses showed that having baseline AERSA≥19 mm(2) (OR:23.7), IPH lower ≤1 mm (OR:97.3) and belonging to RT2 group (OR:15.0) were found to be independent risk factors related with not achieving final CRC.

Conclusion: This study indicates that AERSA and IPH may be used to predict the final CRC outcomes in RT1 and RT2 defects treated with CAF+CTG.