Comparative evaluation of coronally advanced flap and semilunar coronally repositioned flap, using platelet-rich fibrin in Miller's Class I recession defects: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: For a periodontist, treating recession is always a proud moment and a challenging task. The current trial aimed at comparing and clinically evaluating semilunar coronally repositioned flap (SCRF) and coronally advanced flap (CAF) procedures combined with platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) in the management of Miller's Class I recession defects.

Materials and methods: Thirty-six recession sites were randomly divided into the CAF or SCRF groups. Gingival thickness (GT), root coverage percentage (%RC), plaque index (PI), gingival bleeding index (GBI), and clinical attachment level (CAL) were measured at baseline and 3 and 6 months. Recession height (RH), recession width (RW), and width of keratinized tissue (WKT) were also measured. With significance set at p=/<0.05 and <0.001, the Chi-square test was used to analyze intragroup data and the paired t-test was used to analyze intergroup differences.

Results: Intragroup comparison showed a statistical significance for all the clinical parameters i.e. RW (P = 0.00*), RD (P = 0.00*), CAL (P = 0.00*), and GT (P = 0.042*) of the CAF group except for PD (P = 1.00) and WKT (P = 0.331) whereas, the SCRF group showed statistical significance for WKT (P = 0.001*) and GT (P = 0.00*). Remaining parameters of SCRF group were non-significant when compared from baseline to 6 months (P > 0.05). Further, intergroup comparison showed no significant difference in both the groups for all the parameters except for %RC where significance was reported at 1 month (P = 0.015*) and 3 months (P = 0.013*) when compared from baseline to 6 months.

Conclusion: Root coverage is better in CAF with PRF than SCRF with PRF, in the treatment of gingival recession. PRF helped in soft-tissue healing and increased in GT.