Clinical Research Directory

Complications Related to Palatal Graft Harvesting

Soft tissue defects can be a problem, especially in patients with high smile lines; in these clinical scenarios, the treatment with periodontal plastic surgery in combination with the use of a connective tissue graft (CTG) is considered the gold-standard procedure. Single incision technique (Huerzeler \& Weng, 1999) is one of the suggested procedures to harvest the CTG from palate. The UPV/EHU technique (Aguirre-Zorzano et al, 2017) showed less inflammation and post-surgical complications than trap-door technique, but also other technique should to be analysed. However, there is still no consensus about which is the best technique to obtain this kind of graft. Therefore, clinicians should justify their choice based on the tissue's quality obtained and the patient's well-being, producing the least number of complications, such as inflammation, post-surgical pain, or recession in the donor area. HYPOTHESIS: Does the technique of obtaining an CTG of the palate using the "UPV/EHU technique" (Aguirre-Zorzano et al., 2017) result in a lower number of complications versus the "single incision technique" (Huerzeler \& Weng, 1999)? OBJECTIVES The main objective is to assess whether the complications occurring with the harvesting of the CTG using the "UPV/EHU technique" (Aguirre-Zorzano et al., 2017) are lower than with the "single incision technique"(Huerzeler \& Weng, 1999), knowing the patient's perception of pain. The secondary objectives are: a) necrosis of the palate, b) possible resulting recession in the donor area, and c) characteristics of the graft obtained