Evaluation of the Effect of Flowable Resin Composite on Pain and Wound Healing After Bilateral Standardized Palatal Soft Tissue Harvesting: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Evaluation of the Effect of Flowable Resin Composite on Pain and Wound Healing After Bilateral Standardized Palatal Soft Tissue Harvesting

a double-blind clinical trial in 10 patients, and each participant serves as their own control.

Patients eligible for gingival grafting who will attend the Urmia Dental School during the study will be enrolled in the trial. The surgery is performed on both sides of the palate. Each side is assigned to one of two methods: dressing with composite flow or dressing alone. This study will be conducted as a double-blind trial, such that neither the patients nor the data assessor will be informed about the type of intervention.

Inclusion criteria:Clinical need for bilateral free gingival grafting in the mandibular premolar/molar region. Age 18–65 years. Good general health. Ability to follow postoperative instructions and attend follow-up visits. Exclusion criteria:Smoking or other behaviors that impair wound healing. Known allergy to materials used in the study.

Free gingival grafting is an effective soft tissue grafting method for increasing the width and thickness of keratinized gingiva and correcting mucogingival defects. In this study, one palatal side will be selected as the control side. The wound resulting from tissue harvesting will be covered with a sterile gelatinous collagen sponge (Hemospon, Maquira Dental Group) and then secured with non-absorbable monofilament sutures (SUPALON, supa medical devices).The contralateral side will be covered similarly with a gelatinous collagen sponge; however, additionally, a layer of light-curable composite resin (Denfil, Vericom Co) will be applied over the sponge and polymerized. Postoperative Care: Patients will receive one Novafen capsule (325 mg acetaminophen, 200 mg ibuprofen, and 40 mg caffeine) every 6 hours as a pain reliever. This will be administered uniformly to all patients.

Degree of wound healing؛ Postoperative pain intensity

Following the confirmation of inclusion and exclusion criteria, informed consent will be obtained from the patients. Then, the right or left side of each patient will be randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or the standard dressing. Patients will be informed of the difference in the dressings on the two sides, but they will remain blinded to which side is assigned to the intervention or the control group. To maintain the blinding of the assessor, pain intensity on the VAS will be recorded by an individual who solely evaluates the pain of each side separately without being aware of the intervention type. Furthermore, before the clinical assessment and EHI scoring, the dressings on both sides will be removed by a separate individual to ensure the assessor remains blinded to the treatment allocation.