Free Soft Tissue Grafts (FSTG) Using Autograft Palatal Donor Tissue vs. Xenograft Collagen Soft Tissue Matrix From Porcine Achilles Tendon (Zderm™)
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Summary
Participant in this study are asked to participate because they have teeth or dental implants that were identified as having very little gum tissue and would benefit from gum tissue graft surgery. This study has 2 treatment groups that differ only in the material that will be used at the graft site: * Gum tissue taken from the patient's own palate * Commercially available collagen matrix derived from porcine (pig) Achilles tendon (FDA-approved for the surgery done in this study). Both materials have been in use in dental practices for many years, but no studies have directly compared the outcomes between palatal tissue and the porcine collagen matrix we will use in this study. Participants will be randomized into one of the 2 groups using sealed envelopes (the process is like flipping a coin). All the study visits will take place during regular dental appointments that would be scheduled even if not participating in this research.
Description
The investigators are examining the amount of gingiva gained when using 2 different types of donor tissue to do the graft surgery: either gum tissue from the patient's palate or commercially available tissue called a "collagen matrix" that comes from an animal source (the Achilles tendon of pigs). Palatal tissue has been used for over 70 years for this purpose, while animal sources have been used for about 15 years. So far, no studies have been done to see if there are any differences in the amount of new gum tissue we see when we use the palatal tissue approach versus the animal tissue approa…