Clinical And Patient-Centred Long-Term Results Of Root Coverage Using The Envelope Technique In A Private Practice Setting: 10-Year Results-A Case Series

Aim Evaluation of long-term results after connective tissue graft (CTG) using the envelope technique and the effect on patient-centred outcomes (Oral Health Impact Profile: OHIP) in a private practice setting.Materials and Methods Fifteen patients (11 female, mean age: 45.0 +/- 8.88 years) underwent root coverage procedure using a CTG involving maxillary Miller class I teeth. Pre-operatively, 3 and 120 +/- 12 months after surgery, all patients were examined, completed OHIP questionnaire, and were asked to assess improvement and their satisfaction with the results of surgery. All procedures were performed by the same investigator.Results Recession depth at 3 months of 1.19 +/- 0.93 mm was reduced to that of 0.63 +/- 0.64 mm at 120 +/- 12 months after surgery (p = .117). Recession width (-1.23 +/- 2.27 mm) decreased as well (p = .117), while relative root coverage increased from 48.46 +/- 32.18% at 3 months to 71.22 +/- 30.86% at 120 months (p = .011). The number of cases with complete root coverage increased from two (15.4%) to six (40.0%) from 3 to 120 months (p = .046). OHIP score (12.07 +/- 10.15) did not change after 10 years (12.13 +/- 9.86, p = .889). Ten years after surgery, 12 patients (80%) reported they would make the decision again to undergo CTG transplantation.Conclusions Within the limitations of the study design with a high risk of bias in a practice setting, long-term stability of recession reduction, OHIP and patient-perceived satisfaction remained stable over 10 years.