TREATMENT OF GINGIVAL RECESSION WITH TUNNEL TECHNIQUE: A 13-YEAR FOLLOW-UP CASE REPORT

A. Chiavieri¹, A. Donolato¹, G. El Haddad² and E. El Haddad^2*

 ¹University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
²Private practice, Turin, Italy

 ^*Corresponding author:
Elias El Haddad, MD, DDS
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 38
10123, Turin, Italy
e-mail: elias.h@tiscali.it

Received: 28 November  2023 Accepted: 04 January 2024

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ABSTRACT

The periodontium is a complex structure that plays a crucial role in oral health. It has been studied extensively, and its understanding is essential for preventing and treating periodontal diseases. Periodontal disease is a pervasive inflammatory disorder that negatively impacts the supporting structures of the dentition, culminating in progressive attachment loss and alveolar bone resorption. A prevalent clinical manifestation of periodontal disease is gingival recession. Various factors, including chronic inflammatory periodontal disease, occlusal trauma, aggressive tooth brushing, and periodontal treatment, can cause it. Multiple gingival recessions can be treated through various surgical techniques. The choice of surgical technique to adopt depends on the anatomical characteristics, the surgical objectives, the predictability data of root coverage present in the literature, and finally, the aesthetic requests of the patient. The tunnel technique (TUN) is used when there is not enough apical keratinized tissue to cover the root, and at the same time, there are well-represented papillae that allow tunneling. TUN is a minimally invasive method that doesn’t require vertical releasing incisions and preserves the interdental papillae. A connective graft collected from the palate is inserted in a tunnel of the papilla to cover the roots of the teeth. The following work presents a case report. Furthermore, literature is discussed.

KEYWORDS: gingival recession, coronally advanced flap, tunnel technique, connective tissue graft