Soft tissue re-growth after osseous resective surgery with and without fibre retention technique. Four-year follow-up of a randomized clinical trial.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes and soft tissue rebound following Fibre Retention Osseous Resective Surgery (FibReORS) and Osseous Resective Surgery (ORS) over a 48-month period. Thirteen chronic periodontitis patients, displaying two contra-lateral posterior sextants with residual intrabony defects ≤3mm in single-rooted or multi-rooted teeth with no or grade I furcation involvement, were treated in a split-mouth study model. ORS procedure was randomly applied on one side, while FibReORS on the contra-lateral side. Clinical measurements were recorded at 12 and 48months after surgery. All 13 patients were available for the 48-month recall. At this time point, probing depth (PD) and keratinized tissue changes did not significantly differ between treatments. FibReORS-treated sites exhibited less gingival recession than ORS-treated sextants (2.1±0.3 versus 2.5±0.4mm, p=.001), but comparable coronal soft tissue rebound. The mean difference of 0.4±0.3mm was consistent with higher amount of bone resection in the ORS group (0.92±0.11 versus 0.38±0.09mm, p<.001). FibReORS resulted in similar PD changes and soft tissue rebound compared with ORS in posterior teeth with no or limited furcation involvement.