Donor area Surgeries were initiated in all participants by removing connective tissue from the mucosa of the palate using the deepithelialized free gingival graft technique.
Receiving area
\- TUN + CTG (test group)
Zabalegui et al. detailed the surgical procedure as follows:
The tunnel is created by making a partial-thickness incision in each recession area that will be addressed in the procedure. Special attention is paid to the manipulation of the tissue beyond the mucogingival junction, in order to obtain a tunnel without tension that facilitates the insertion of the graft.
At the level of the interdental papillae, a careful incision is made, raising the papillae gently without separating their tips.
A graft is extracted from the palate that extends from the canine area to the tuberosity, ensuring that it is long enough to cover the root of all the teeth involved.
The graft is inserted into the tunnel using a specific suture technique. The first suture is passed through the most distal part of the recession, and the needle emerges in the most medial part of the recession. The second suture is placed on the opposite side, and the needle emerges in the same medial location of the recession.
The graft, supported by both sutures (mesial and distal), slides smoothly into the tunnel, passing under the interdental papillae. In some cases, specific instruments can help adjust the graft within the tunnel.
Once the graft is in the desired position, both sutures are tied with knots to secure and stabilize the inserted graft. This exposes grafting into the recession area.
CAF + CTG (grupo control) Two beveled incisions were made in a horizontal position, one on the mesial side and one on the distal side of the recession-affected area. These incisions were located at the bases of the papillae and distanced 1 mm from the tip of the anatomical papillae, which made it possible to suture the gingival margin upwards towards the cementum-enamel junction.
Subsequently, two slightly divergent oblique beveled incisions were made, starting at the ends of the two horizontal incisions and extending to the alveolar mucosa along 3-4 mm. The resulting flap had partial thickness in the surgical papilla area, full thickness from the gingival margin to 3-4 mm of bone exposure, and partial thickness beyond the mucogingival junction. The flap muscle insertions in the apical zone of bone exposure were eliminated to allow its passive upward movement in the coronal direction.
The root surface was subjected to mechanical treatment with curettes, but only in the area where the clinical junction had been lost, in order to prevent possible damage to the connective tissue fibers that were still anchored in the root cementum. In addition, facial soft tissue deepithelialization was carried out in the anatomical papillae located coronally to the horizontal incisions.
The closure of the flap was performed by a combination of band sutures, applied in the areas of the interdental papillae, and simple sutures, used in the areas of the vertical incisions. Special care was taken to position the soft tissue at the top, in the direction of the cementum-enamel junction, with the aim of counteracting physiological retraction during the healing process.
