Multiple Gingival Recession Defects Treated with Coronally Advanced Flap and Either the VISTA Technique Enhanced with GEM 21S or Periosteal Pedicle Graft: A 9-Month Clinical Study

The objective of this study was to clinically evaluate and compare the efficacy of the vestibular incision subperiosteal tunnel access (VISTA) technique using Bio-Gide (Geistlich) membrane enhanced with GEM 21S (Osteohealth) with periosteal pedicle graft (PPG) using a coronally advanced flap. Multiple gingival recession sites in 15 individuals were randomly assigned either to experimental site A (VISTA) or experimental site B (PPG) in a split-mouth design. The clinical parameters were recorded at baseline and 9 months postoperatively. Repeated measures analysis of variance with post hoc Bonferroni correction and paired t test were used to assess statistical significance (P .05). Mean recession depth significantly decreased from 4.21 ± 1.08 mm (presurgery) to 0.61 ± 0.92 mm (9 months) with VISTA (87.37 ± 17.78% root coverage) and from 4.17 ± 1.18 mm (presurgery) to 1.16 ± 0.92 mm (9 months) with PPG (71.84 ± 19.25% root coverage). Width of keratinized tissue and clinical attachment gain were significantly higher in the VISTA group compared with the PPG group. Within the limits of the study both VISTA and PPG groups resulted in a significant amount of root coverage. The VISTA technique was less invasive and required minimal time and clinical maneuvering. It also resulted in a superior esthetic outcome.