Objective:

Compare the dimensional changes of peri-implant tissues from the esthetic zone after the second surgical stage of autogenous connective tissue grafting vs. a xenogenic collagen matrix after three months' healing.

Methods:

A case-series of six patients with alveolar ridge defects underwent a soft tissue volume augmentation procedure, randomly assigning two treatment modes: subepithelial connective tissue graft and acellular dermal collagen matrix. Impressions were taken before augmentation and at 90 days to evaluate the dimensional changes. These were then emptied to obtain plaster models which were then digitalized. The two images were superimposed, and upon definition of three points of interest, the dimensional changes were estimated in millimeters with the software D500 3D dental scanner (3Shape, Copenhagen, Denmark). Inquiries were made about the pain experienced by patients using a visual analogue scale.

Results:

Ninety days after surgery, increase in thickness of peri-implant soft tissues was 0.77 mm (range 0.0-1.3) for the connective tissue graft and 0.89 mm (range 0.3-1.5) for the acellular dermal matrix. No statistically significant differences were found between the two treatment modes at any of the three points evaluated per patient (p= 0.83, p= 0.83, p= 0.51). With respect to the pain experienced between the first and the seventh days, no statistically significant differences were found in the recipient zone intergroup (p= 0.07, p= 0.12), the graft intragroup (p= 0.11) and the matrix (p= 0.32), or in the donor zone of the graft group (p= 0.11).

Conclusions:

Increase in the thickness of peri-implant tissues after 90 days was similar in the two study groups.

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