Pedicle Graft for a Challenging Recession

When this patient presented for treatment of hopeless #9, the degree of recession present was the major challenge (Picture 1). Due to the lack of tissue present, a bone regeneration procedure would be extremely challenging. Due to the lack of blood supply, a free tissue graft has a small chance of success. In order overcome this limitation, a Vascularized Interpositional Pedicle (VIP) graft was employed. This graft is harvested in a way where the base of the graft remains attached to the underlying bone and periosteum to compensate for the lack of blood supply of the recipient site (Pictures 2,3,4). Additionally, it does not require primary closure avoiding a drastic displacement of the mucogingival junction. Following 2 months of healing (Picture 5), with the increase in tissue volume, implant placement with simultaneous guided bone regeneration was completed (Pictures 6,7). The implant was restored with a properly designed restoration with a natural emergence profile (Picture 8) showing that the choice of a VIP graft was a proper approach in this case.

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Dr. Daniel Gober