Study
Schmitt CM et al. 2019. J Clin. Periodontol. 46(12):1273-1281
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31517397
The preclinical study presented a slightly better outcome on soft tissue thickening for the gold standard, the subepithelial connective tissue graft (SCTG) but no differences were detected in terms of tissue quality at 10 months. Both grafted tissues, showed mature connective tissue, rich in blood vessels and cells and comparable collagen I and VEGF expression pattern.
Aim: Investigation of the histological and immunohistological outcomes of soft tissue thickening with mucoderm® and SCTG at 10 months follow-up.
Material/Methods: Eight beagle dogs received buccal soft tissue thickening of the left or right upper canine by inserting mucoderm® or SCTG, respectively in a split-mouth design. At 10 months, tissue thickness was histomorphometrically measured and tissues were harvested for histological and immunohistological analyses.
Results: Connective tissue thickness differed significantly between mucoderm® (1.06mm) and SCTG (1.32mm) at 10 months, but no differences were found for tissue quality – such as anatomical structures. Both tissue grafts resulted in mature connective tissue in the augmented region, which were rich in blood vessels and cells. Furthermore, both grafted tissues were bound to the periosteum showing mature collagen fibers. Also the collagen I and VEGF expression did not differ between the groups and showed no inflammatory response.
Conclusion: Although soft tissue thickening with the SCTG was superior to mucoderm® at 10 months, both tissue grafts presented very good results for soft tissue augmentation procedures with comparable tissue quality.
Christian M. Schmitt