GINGIVAL RECESSION as a periodontal defect which is found in all human societies and among all ages has attracted the attention of many scholars and researchers. GINGIVAL RECESSION and the subsequent root denudation can cause problems such as: improper appearance, reduction of the ability of the patient in keeping the area clean and increase of inflammation, increase of caries risk, abrasion of root and increase in dental hypersensitivity. As full knowledge of every problem is necessary in order to face it, the present writing tries to study the prevalence and incidence, causes, prevention methods, problems resulting from continuation of the defect and classification of different types of RECESSION and there by give a rather complete analysis of the GINGIVAL RECESSION.

Objectives: GINGIVAL RECESSION can lead to root exposure and discomfort for patients. There are various techniques for root coverage. The aim of this study was to compare the use of GINGIVAL unit graft (palatal graft including the marginal gingiva and papillae) with free GINGIVAL graft for treatment of localized GINGIVAL RECESSION. Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 18 bilateral localized RECESSIONs of Miller class I and II were treated in nine systemically healthy patients. RECESSIONs were randomly treated with GINGIVAL unit graft in one side and conventional free GINGIVAL graft in the other side. Clinical parameters including clinical attachment level, keratinized tissue width, probing depth and vertical RECESSION depth (VRD) were recorded at baseline and at one, three and six months after surgery. The healing index and patient satisfaction were also evaluated. One-way and two-way repeated measures ANOVA and paired t-test were used for statistical analyses.Results: Both techniques caused significant improvement in clinical parameters. GINGIVAL unit graft produced higher satisfaction esthetically (P=0.050, 0.024 and 0.024, respectively at the three time points), higher healing index (P<0.001), higher root coverage percentage at one month after surgery (34.04%, P=0.011) and greater reduction of RECESSION width three months after surgery (P=0.007) but the reduction in VRD at this side was not significantly greater. Conclusions: GINGIVAL unit graft might be an acceptable modality in Miller Class I/II RECESSION defects. This technique may have advantages over free GINGIVAL graft such as significantly superior clinical and esthetic results.

Background. Several classifications have been proposed for GINGIVAL RECESSION defects. Correct diagnosis of the type of GINGIVAL RECESSION is necessary for proper treatment planning and assessment of the prognosis. Considering the existing un-certainty regarding the reliability of different classification systems available for GINGIVAL RECESSION and their shortcomings, this study sought to assess the reproducibility and reliability of accuracy of three available classifications (Cairo, Mahajan and Miller’ s classification systems) for GINGIVAL RECESSION. Methods. This descriptive study was conducted on 32 patients presenting to the Department of Periodontics, who were selected using convenience sampling. The screening process entailed two sessions and those with a minimum of one site of GINGIVAL RECESSION disclosing the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) of the tooth with no adjacent tooth loss at the site of RECESSION were enrolled. Each patient was separately evaluated by three calibrated examiners twice with a minimum of one-week interval. Grading of the GINGIVAL RECESSION defects was determined using the Cairo, Mahajan and Miller’ s classification sys-tems for GINGIVAL RECESSION. The gradings of each examiner were separately recorded by a blinded examiner. A total of 120 single RECESSION defects were examined and data were analyzed using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and Spearman’ s test. Level of agreement was evaluated according to Landis and Koch. Results. The results showed that the reliability of all the three methods was almost perfect (P<0. 05), and no significant difference was noted in reliability of the Cairo, Mahajan and Miller’ s classifications for GINGIVAL RECESSION (P=0. 7). Conclusion. Based on the results of the study, the highest intra-and inter-observer agreement in the use of the three classi-fications belonged to the Cairo classification; however, all the three classifications showed high reliability.