Management of interdental papillary defects using subperiosteal hyaluronic acid injection overlay technique: a prospective longitudinal clinical study.

Objective: Currently, there is no established treatment protocol to treat Interdental papillary loss. This research aimed to evaluate the outcomes of interdental papillary reconstruction using minimally invasive surgery, with injectable hyaluronic acid (HA) gel.

Materials and methods: Seventeen patients were included, each with five sites of class 1 papillary recession; (forty sites in the upper jaw and forty-five sites in the lower jaw). Subperiosteal tunneling was performed through a horizontal incision made apical to the base of the papilla without penetrating it. The free gingival sulcus was sealed by 000 retraction cord. After that a total of 0.2-0.6 mL HA was injected gradually. The incision was sutured with polyglycolic sutures. Treated sites underwent clinical and digital evaluation at three follow up time points (1 month, 3 months and 6 months).

Results: The interdental papillary defect height in the upper jaw sites significantly reduced by 60%, 66%, and 42% at 1 month, 3 and 6 months, respectively. Also, in lower jaw sites, the reduction was of about 54%, 55%, and 40% at the same follow up time points. Regarding interdental papillary defect surface area in the upper jaw the reduction was about 65%, 71%, and 45% at 1 month, 3 and 6 months. In the lower jaw, a reduction of about 60%, 64%, and 48% was noticed at the same time points. Regarding patients' pain level score, during the day of surgery, sixteen patients reported pain, the average pain score out of 10 was 3.94, and eleven patients (64.7%) needed to take analgesics. The pain generally subsided in the following days. Also, at the day of the treatment twelve out of the seventeen patients (70.6%) reported mild difficulty in speaking and eating. No complication, hypersensitivity or allergy was noted in any patient.

Conclusion: Subperiosteal tunneling with HA injection demonstrates clinical improvements in papilla height and papillary recession surface area reduction after 3 months of follow-up with reduction in improvement after 6 months.