Soft tissue re-growth after osseous resective surgery with and without fibre retention technique. Four-year follow-up of a randomized clinical trial

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes and soft tissue rebound following Fibre Retention Osseous Resective Surgery (FibReORS) and Osseous Resective Surgery (ORS) over a 48-month period. Materials and Methods: Thirteen chronic periodontitis patients, displaying two contra-lateral posterior sextants with residual intrabony defects ≤3 mm in single-rooted or multi-rooted teeth with no or grade I furcation involvement, were treated in a split-mouth study model. ORS procedure was randomly applied on one side, while FibReORS on the contra-lateral side. Clinical measurements were recorded at 12 and 48 months after surgery. Results: All 13 patients were available for the 48-month recall. At this time point, probing depth (PD) and keratinized tissue changes did not significantly differ between treatments. FibReORS-treated sites exhibited less gingival recession than ORS-treated sextants (2.1 ± 0.3 versus 2.5 ± 0.4 mm, p =.001), but comparable coronal soft tissue rebound. The mean difference of 0.4 ± 0.3 mm was consistent with higher amount of bone resection in the ORS group (0.92 ± 0.11 versus 0.38 ± 0.09 mm, p <.001). Conclusion: FibReORS resulted in similar PD changes and soft tissue rebound compared with ORS in posterior teeth with no or limited furcation involvement.