A Comparison between Mucoderm® and Connective Tissue Graft for Root Coverage

Statement of the Problem: 

Subepithelial connective tissue graft (SCTG) is the gold standard treatment for root coverage procedure; however, this technique has limitations such as the need for a donor site and the difficulty of the harvesting procedure.  The potential benefits of Mucoderm®, a collagen matrix derived from porcine dermis, as an alternative treatment for root coverage can be investigated.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Mucoderm® for root coverage and compare its results with SCTG.

This double-blind split-mouth randomized clinical trial was conducted on seven patients with 12 bilateral gingival recessions (24 recession sites). Coronally advanced flap + Mucoderm® was applied on one side and coronally advanced flap + connective tissue graft (CTG) was applied on the contralateral side. We measured the periodontal pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL), recession depth (RD), keratinized tissue width (KTW) and gingival thickness (GT) with a surgical stent at baseline (preoperatively) and at 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. The Wilcoxon and Friedman tests were used to analyse the data.

The mean percentage of root coverage was 26% in the Mucoderm® group and 60% in the SCTG group at 6 months, compared with baseline. The mean percentage of root coverage was significantly different between the two groups (p Value<0.05). The results indicated that Mucoderm® did not increase the KTW, while CTG significantly increased the KTW (p Value< 0.05 at 1, 3 and 6 months).

The results of this study showed that Mucoderm® might not be an appropriate alternative for the CTG in root coverage procedures.