Abstract: Abstract: Objective To evaluate the short-term efficacy of enhancing deficient interdental papilla of anterior teeth with hyaluronic acid gel injection. Methods 16 target sites with interdental papilla recession were treated in five female volunteers. Following local anesthesia, cross-linked sodium hyaluronate gel was injected into the base of every defective papilla. The injections were repeated twice three weeks and six weeks later. Papillary heights and lost papilla surface areas were calculated from digital clinical photographs taken at base line and 6-months after operation using image software Digimizer. The comparsions of the changes of papillary height and the lost papilla surface areas between baseline and postoperativetime points were statistically analyzed. Results The average difference in height of the target inderdental papilla between baseline and 6-month after operation was 0.62 mm. The percentage of the height change between baseline and postoperative visit was 27.3%. The average change of the lost papilla surface area was 0.67mm2. The mean percentage of area change was 50.9%. Differences between baseline and postoperative visit were statistically significant (p< 0.01). Conclusions Use of hyaluronic acid gel to treat interdental papilla recession resultes in significant improvement atfter 6 months. The long-term efficacy of an injectable hyaluronic gel toenhance papillary esthetics should be evaluated in an extensive randomized controlled trial.

Key words: interdental papilla recession, esthetic dentistry, interdental papilla, hyaluronic acid gel