Minimally Invasive Esthetic Suturing Technique for Anterior Esthetic Crown Lengthening Surgery: A Case Series with 24-Month Follow-up.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical and patient-reported outcomes of a minimally invasive suturing technique for esthetic crown lengthening surgery (ECLS).

Materials and methods: A total of 15 patients who underwent ECLS were treated using the described suturing technique. Clinical parameters, including plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), bleeding index (BI), papilla index score (PIS), early wound healing index (EHI), visual analog scale (VAS), pink esthetic score (PES), and white esthetic score (WES), were recorded at baseline, immediately postsurgery, and during follow-up visits spanning 5 days to 24 months. Two-sample t test was performed to evaluate statistical significance (α = .05).

Results: All patients (100%) reported a high level of satisfaction, with stable high postoperative VAS scores. From baseline to 5 days postoperative, there was no statistically significant increase in PI, although there was a slight deterioration observed in GI (0.13 ± 0.23, P < .05) and BI (0.49 ± 0.55, P < .05). Early wound healing (EHI 1) was achieved by all patients at 5 days postsurgery. Additionally, 3 patients exhibited changes in PIS within the initial 3 months following surgery, after which all patients attained an optimal degree of papilla fill (degree III).

Conclusions: The application of the minimally invasive esthetic suturing technique in ECLS demonstrates favorable outcomes in terms of patient satisfaction and long-term stability. However, the assertion of its superiority over conventional suturing methods for ECLS necessitates substantiation through rigorous investigation via well-designed randomized controlled clinical trials.