Background: Gingival biotype used to describe the thickness of the gingiva in the facio-palatal dimension, and it mainly refers to the quality of the soft tissue profile surrounding the teeth. The current study was designed to compare the effect of amniotic membrane and Subepithelial connective tissue graft in the management of thin gingival biotype.
Subjects and methods: 20 Subjects with thin gingival biotype in lower anterior area randomly assigned into two equal groups using Vestibular Incision subperiosteal Tunnel Access (VISTA) technique, Group (A) including ten subjects with Subepithelial connective tissue graft (SCTG) was inserted through subperiosteal tunnel to cover the gingiva of lower incisors area. Group (B) including ten subjects with cryopreserved amniotic membrane (AM) was inserted through subperiosteal tunnel covered the gingiva of lower incisors area. Following parameters were evaluated before treatment (baseline), after three and six months post operative: Plaque index (PI), gingival index (BI), Probing depth (PD), Width of keratinized tissue (WKT) and thickness of keratinized tissue (TKT).
Results : Both group A and group B showed significant improvement regarding all clinical parameters, from baseline to six months except in WKT. There was significant improvement regarding TKT in SCTG group compared to AM group at 6 months interval.
Conclusion: Both SCTG and AM show clinical improvement in management of thin gingival biotype. There was a significant improvement regarding TKT in SCTG group compared to AM group at 6 months interval.