Periodontal Conditions of Sites Treated With Gingival-Augmentation Surgery Compared to Untreated Contralateral Homologous Sites: A 10- to 27-Year Long-Term Study

Background: The aim of this split-mouth study is to compare long-term (18 to 35 years) periodontal conditions of sites treated with gingival augmentation procedures (GAPs) and untreated homologous contralateral sites.Methods: Forty-seven patients with 64 sites (test group), with lack of attached gingiva associated with recessions, were treated with marginal or submarginal free gingival grafts. Sixty-four contralateral homologous sites (control group), with or without gingival recession (GR) and with attached gingiva, were left untreated. Patients were recalled every 4 to 6 months during follow-up period. GR depth, keratinized tissue (KT) width, and probing depth were measured at baseline (T0), 1 year after surgery (T1), during follow-up (10 to 27 years, T2), and at the end of the follow-up period (18 to 35 years, T3). Multilevel and regression analyses were conducted.Results: At the end of T3, 83% of the 64 treated sites showed recession reduction (RecRed), whereas 48% of the 64 untreated sites experience...