Treatment of Miller Class I and II localized recession defects using laterally positioned flaps: a 24-month study

To assess the clinical results obtained with laterally positioned flap (LPF) for the treatment of localized gingival recessions (GR).

32 systemically healthy, non-smoking patients, with one Miller Class I or II buccal GR of > or = 3 mm, were treated with a LPF. At baseline the following measurements were recorded: (1) recession depth; (2) probing depth; (3) clinical attachment level; and (4) width of keratinized tissue. At 24 months post-surgery, all clinical measurements were repeated.

Mean root coverage obtained with the laterally positioned flaps was 93.8%. Complete root coverage was obtained in 62.5% of the recipient sites. The mean recession depth decreased from 4.71 +/- 1.30 mm to 0.28 +/- 0.42 mm. Statistically significant improvements were found for all clinical parameters from baseline to 24 months (P < 0.05). Patients with maxillary recessions recorded statistically superior gains in the width of keratinized tissue than patients with mandibular recessions. The results of the present study demonstrated that the LPF is an effective procedure to cover localized gingival recession. Moreover, both groups (i.e., patients with maxillary or mandibular recessions) recorded similar significant improvements from baseline to 24-month examination, except for the width of keratinized tissue which was statistically higher for maxillary recessions.