Enamel Matrix Proteins (Emdogain) in Combination with Coronally Advanced Flap or Subepithelial Connective Tissue Graft in the Treatment of Shallow Gingival Recessions

This article describes two different surgical techniques of root coverage using Emdogain and shows preliminary results on 26 shallow recessions in 14 patients. For the treatment of 13 recessions, Emdogain was used in combination with a coronally advanced flap (CAF+EMD group). In the other 13 recessions, Emdogain and the flap were used in combination with a subepithelial connective tissue graft (CAF+CTG+EMD group). For the CAF+EMD group, the root coverage at 6 months was 93.97%, with an attachment gain of 3.2 mm; for the CAF+CTG+EMD group, the root coverage was 93.59%, with an attachment gain of 3.4 mm (no statistically significant difference between groups). When complete root coverage was not achieved, the residual recession was 1 mm in four cases and 2 mm in one case. Keratinized gingiva was increased for both groups, but more for the CAF+CTG+EMD group (1.38 mm versus 0.69 mm; statistically significant difference). Clinical attachment level decreased significantly in both groups, from 4.46 to 1.23 mm in the CAF+EMD group, and from 4.62 to 1.23 mm in the CAF+CTG+EMD group. Preliminary results show that Emdogain, in combination with CAF or CAF+CTG for the treatment of Miller Class I or II gingival recessions, displays good clinical results, with percentage of root coverage comparable or superior to other techniques. Further experimental studies on the dynamics of wound healing are needed to prove that EMD is really responsible for improving the percentage of regenerated versus repaired tissues with respect to other techniques.