Diode laser for harvesting de-epithelialized palatal graft in the treatment of gingival recession defects: a randomized clinical trial

Aims: The aim of present randomized controlled clinical study was to evaluate the effects of the use of diode laser for graft harvesting and palatal wound irradiation on post-operative morbidity and root coverage outcomes after a coronally advanced flap (CAF) with de-epithelialized gingival grafts (DGG).

Methods: Fifty-two patients with isolated recessions were treated. The CTG resulted from the de-epithelialization of a free gingival graft (FGG) with blade (control group:DGG-B) or diode laser (DL) (test group:DGG-L). The DL was used to de-epithelialize the outer part of the FGG and photo-biostimulate the palatal wound area. Post-operative morbidity was evaluated by using Oral Health-related Quality of Life (OHQoL) and Visual Analogue Scale-discomfort (VAS). Root coverage outcomes were also evaluated 6 months after operation.

Results: Statistically significant differences were found for OHQoL (p = 0.0001) and VAS (p = 0.0001) at the 7th day post-operatively favouring test sites. Root coverage results did not show a statistically significant difference.

Conclusions: While both techniques were effective with regard to root coverage at 6 months, the DGG-L technique decreased post-operative morbidity associated with palatal donor-site surgery.