Aesthetic perception after root coverage procedure.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the aesthetic perception of the clinical outcomes of a simulated root coverage procedure in three different groups: patients, dentists, and periodontists.


METHODS
100 patients, 107 general dentists affiliated with the Dental Association of Prato, Italy, and 81 active members of the Italian Society of Periodontology were recruited for this study. The following variables: age, gender, level of education, place of residence, and years of practice (only for dentists and periodontists) were recorded by means of a questionnaire administered to each subject within the three different groups. In addition, the participants in the study were requested to assign scores to images of eight simulated clinical cases of gingival recessions: a pre- and post-treatment image for each case.


RESULTS
Statistically significant differences between groups were not detected in most of the scores. Gender and residence were not significantly associated with the scores, while age was correlated for two clinical cases (p=0.0014 and 0.0017). All the cases of complete root coverage showed the highest scores among all the participants.


CONCLUSIONS
These results showed that complete root coverage following root coverage procedure is perceived as the most successful outcome by patients, dentists, and periodontists.
Rotundo
Roberto
R
Department of Periodontology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. roberto.rotundo@unifi.it
Nieri
Michele
M
Mori
Massimiliano
M
Clauser
Carlo
C
Prato
Giovanpaolo Pini
GP
D000367:Age Factors; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003815:Dentists; D004522:Educational Status; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D005889:Gingival Recession / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010517:Periodontics; D011364:Professional Practice; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014505:Urban Population