The role of subepithelial connective tissue graft for reconstruction of interdental papilla: Clinical study.

BACKGROUND: The ideal goal of periodontal therapy is regeneration of the lost periodontium. However regeneration of the lost interdental papilla has been elusive. Therefore the ability of rebuilding lost papillae in the maxillary segment has become one of the major challenges in periodontal plastic surgery. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the success and predictability of surgical technique using a sub epithelial connective tissue graft interposed in a coronally displaced flap to reconstruct the lost interdental papillae. METHODS: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the success and predictability of a surgical technique using a subepithelial connective tissue graft from the palate with coronally displaced flap to regenerate the lost interdental papilla in 11 systemically healthy patients. RESULTS: Post treatment follow up show statistically significant results from baseline to 3months and 6 months. CONCLUSION: The present study attempted a single surgical procedure to reconstruct the lost interdental papilla using subepithelial connective tissue graft interposed in coronally displaced flap in 11 patients with Tarnow's class-II papillary recessions. At the end of 6 months it was found that the sites demonstrated significantly superior results as determined by percentage of reduction in the area of the black triangle both clinically (60.26%) and on the model (54.29%). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Although complete regeneration of interdental papilla was not achieved, the results of this study demonstrate that a predictable and an esthetically pleasing surgical outcome can be achieved in one attempt for class II papillary recessions.