Gingival Augmentation of the Edentulous Site Before Implant Placement Using a Transposed Pedicled Gingivectomy Tissue: A Novel Surgical Case Report

The amount of keratinized gingiva around teeth/prostheses is a crucial factor to consider before placing the crowns and bridges around implants or edentulous teeth. Keratinized gingiva around teeth, edentulous sites or implants is an important as it improves aesthetics, helps to maintain good oral hygiene around prosthesis, and prevents postoperative exposure of implant threads. The presence of adequate keratinized tissue around implants/prostheses is vital for good peri-implant health and should be augmented before implant treatment to improve the overall prognosis of the implants. The attached gingiva can be augmented using a free gingival graft (FGG) or AlloDerm®. However, procurement of FGG is surgically demanding as it requires procurement of the tissue graft from the palate. Moreover, it creates a second surgical site with an increased risk of post-operative discomfort and bleeding. To overcome these limitations, this case report presents a novel non-invasive simple, surgical technique to augment keratinized tissue using partially excised pedicled gingivectomy tissue for augmentating attached gingiva before prosthetic rehabilitation.