Abstract
OBJECTIVE: 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). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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). CONCLUSION: The LCT technique proved to be an effective technique for localized recession type 1 treatment when used in combination with CTG or CM. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Both grafting materials used in combination with the LCT technique resulted in favorable short-term clinical and esthetic outcomes for localized gingival recession. TRIAL REGISTRATION: 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 .