Use of bone grafts for the enhancement of a GTR-based root coverage procedure: a pilot case study

The use of guided tissue regeneration (GTR) procedures for the treatment of gingival recession has shown encouraging results and is gaining clinical acceptance. However, attaining space maintenance beneath the membrane remains a problem for clinicians. Hence, the purpose of this pilot case study was to evaluate the effect of adjunctive demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA) placement during collagen membrane GTR-based root coverage procedures. Five patients with Miller Class I or II defects were treated with a combination of DFDBA and collagen membrane. Clinical parameters monitored include recession depth, probing attachment level, probing depth, width of keratinized gingiva, and recession width. Measurements were taken at baseline and 6 months. A statistically significant reduction in recession depth (3.1 +/- 0.7 mm) was observed at 6 months, representing 93.4% total attainable root coverage. A significant reduction of recession width (3.5 +/- 1.2 mm) after 6 months was also noted. Clinically, a statistically significant mean gain of 3.3 +/- 0.6 mm in clinical attachment and 0.8 +/- 0.9 mm in keratinized gingiva were obtained at 6 months. No statistically significant difference was found in probing depth between baseline and 6 months postoperative. Plaque and gingival indices remained low and showed no statistically significant change throughout the study period. Results from this pilot case study indicate that use of DFDBA during collagen membrane GTR-based root coverage could be beneficial.