Over the years, coronally advanced flap and the use of guided tissue regeneration have been among the more successful techniques in treating gingival recession. The present study compared the relative efficacies of these two techniques in treating gingival recession.

Twelve patients presenting with localized identical anterior recessions were taken up in a split mouth design for the study. One site was randomly assigned to be treated with coronally advanced flap supported by membrane while the other was treated with coronally advanced flap alone. Changes in clinical parameters, such as recession width, recession depth, surface area of the recession defect, width of keratinized tissue, gingival status, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level were measured at baseline and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively.

In the 10 patients that were followed up, both treatments resulted in a significant gain in root coverage amounting to a mean gain of 66.49% in the membrane group and 65.56% in the CAF group. The differences in root coverage and the clinical attachment level gains between the groups were not significant. However, significant gain in the width of keratinized tissue was seen in the membrane group after treatment.

This study suggests that coronally advanced flap procedure provides a predictable, simple and convenient technique in the treatment of localized class I gingival recession. Combining this technique with the placement of a bioabsorbable membrane does not seem to improve the results. The addition of a membrane, however, increases the width of keratinized tissue.