Efficacy of buccal pad fat as a new approach in the treatment of gingival recession: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review evaluates the efficacy of buccal pad fat (BPF) as an autologous graft in the treatment of gingival recession (GR). Thus, the research question explores if the BPF can serve as a viable alternative to the gold standard connective tissue graft. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Only seven studies met the inclusion criteria were critically appraised including the randomized controlled clinical trials, and case series. The inclusion criteria were systemically healthy individuals in the age range (18-65 years old) with Miller's classification of GR either class I, II, III, or IV while exclusion criteria were patients with poor oral hygiene, pregnant and lactating patients, teeth with caries, any prior surgery in the relevant regions, and use of medications. RESULTS: The review included 117 patients with 136 GR defects. The age of participants ranges from 20 to 65 years old with the higher percentage of root coverage (%RC) at 6 months in the pedicled BPF group which was 89.30%while the lowest (%RC) at 6 months in the same group was 46.78%. The BPF group's width of keratinized gingiva (WKG) values indicate a notable improvement, suggesting a positive impact on WKG compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: BPF can be considered as a promising graft to augment gingival tissues at different sites in the oral cavity with different Miller's classes of GR providing a new era in GR treatment.