Comparative evaluation of the laterally closed tunnel technique with connective tissue graft and collagen matrix for treating localized type 1 gingival recession: a randomized, controlled clinical trial

TL;DR

This study compares two methods for treating gum recession, finding both effective in improving gum health and appearance.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence on the effectiveness of the laterally closed tunnel technique combined with two grafting materials for gum recession.

Findings

Both LCT+CTG and LCT+CM significantly improved gum recession depth and coverage within six months.

Secondary outcomes like gum thickness and esthetic scores also showed significant improvement in both groups.

Patient-reported outcomes were favorable, indicating high satisfaction with the treatments.

Abstract

There is limited evidence about the short- and long-term outcomes of the laterally closed tunnel (LCT) technique for gingival recession (GR) treatment. This clinical trial aimed to evaluate the short-term clinical effectiveness of and patient-reported outcomes of the LCT technique when used in combination with either connective tissue graft (CTG) or collagen matrix (CM).

A total of forty patients were randomly assigned to either the control group (LCT + CTG) or the test group (LCT + CM) for localized GR type 1 treatment. Primary outcome measures included recession depth (RD), recession width (RW), root coverage percentages (MRC%), and complete root coverage percentage (CRC%). Secondary outcomes included gingival thickness (GT), keratinized tissue width (KTW), clinical attachment level (CAL), attached gingiva width (AGW), root coverage esthetic score (RES), and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Clinical evaluations were performed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months after treatment.

At both 3 and 6 months postoperatively, the primary outcomes (RD, RW, MRC%, and CRC%) showed significant improvement (MRC% 93.98 ± 8.58% and 87.24 ± 13.70%, and CRC% 90% after 6 months; p < 0.001). All the secondary outcomes, including (GT, KTW, CAL, AGW, RES, and PROMs were also significantly improved at the end of the study in both groups (p < 0.001).

The LCT technique proved to be an effective technique for localized recession type 1 treatment when used in combination with CTG or CM.

Both grafting materials used in combination with the LCT technique resulted in favorable short-term clinical and esthetic outcomes for localized gingival recession.

The current clinical trial was retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT06065774) and initially released in 13-09-2023 and finally released in 18-11-2024. https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/prs/beta/studies/S000CV1L00000057/recordSummary.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12903-025-07515-9.

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