ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07500935Updated Oct 22, 2026

Palatal Wound Healing After Free Gingival Graft Harvest in Diabetic Patients: A Clinical Trial

An interventional study of Free gingival graft in Diabetes Mellitus, Gingival Recession, Generalized and Gingival Recession, Localized, sponsored by Mauro Santamaria. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-22.

Sponsored by Mauro Santamaria · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Sep 2026; still recruiting 2 months later.
Updated Oct 22, 2026Now RecruitingSite recruiting status changedGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate local and systemic factors involved in palatal mucosal healing after Free Gingival Graft harvest in diabetic patients and to compare them with those in non-diabetic patients.

Diabetic and non-diabetic volunteers of both sexes aged ≥ 18 years with gingival recession may participate. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. If the palatal wound healing (area of the wound) and percentage of wound epithelialization are different in diabetics compared to non-diabetics.
  2. If different factors, such as the oral microbiome, inflammatory markers, and others, are associated with the clinical outcome.

Participants will be asked:

  • Receive the procedure to treat their gingival recession defects
  • To attend follow-up visits at 7, 14, 30, and 90 days after treatment.
  • To provide different biological samples
  • To answer different questionnaires.
02

Conditions studied

  • Diabetes Mellitus
  • Gingival Recession, Generalized
  • Gingival Recession, Localized

Keywords

  • gingival recession
  • diabetes
  • wound healing
03

In context

Diabetes Mellitus

8,290 studies on the registry are indexed under Diabetes Mellitus; 1,077 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 40 is below the median of 80 across 6,023 interventional studies indexed under Diabetes Mellitus.

Browse Diabetes Mellitus studies →

Lead sponsor

Mauro Santamaria is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • aged ≥ 18 years;
  • non-diabetic and diabetic patients (>7% (American Diabetes Association 2025) managed with oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin;
  • in the need of gingival recession treatment (RT1) in upper or lower arches with identifiable or restored cement-enamel junction (CEJ);
  • periodontal stable (BoP ≤25%)(Lang et al. 2003);
  • no morphological or pathological conditions in the palatal mucosa.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • patients with cardiovascular, blood dyscrasias, and immunodeficiency that contraindicate surgical procedures;
  • taking medications known to interfere with the wound healing process or that contraindicate the surgical procedure;
  • Pregnancy/lactation (assessed via self-report);
  • current opportunistic oral lesions that mainly colonize the palate region;
  • subjects that have taken antibiotics within the last 3 months or need for antibiotic prophylaxis;
  • prisoners;
  • signs or symptoms of active extra-oral head and neck infection (swelling) as determined by a dentist at the time of evaluation;
  • subjects who cannot read or speak English or Spanish, and do not agree to having the assistance of an interpreter
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

HbA1c

A blood test of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, given as a percentage or in mmol/mol. 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or more is the usual threshold for diabetes, normally confirmed by a second test.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Care provider, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
40 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Diabetes group

    Diabetic volunteers with gingival recession will be treated with coronally advanced flap and connective tissue graft (CTG). The CTG will be obtained by harvesting a 2-mm thick free gingival graft (FGG), measuring 15 × 5 mm from the palatal area between the distal of the canine and the mesial aspect of the first molar. The palatal wound will be evaluated.

    Procedure: Free gingival graft

  • Active comparator
    Non-diabetes group

    Non-diabetic volunteers with gingival recession will be treated with coronally advanced flap and connective tissue graft (CTG). The CTG will be obtained by harvesting a 2-mm thick free gingival graft (FGG), measuring 15 × 5 mm from the palatal area between the distal of the canine and the mesial aspect of the first molar. The palatal wound will be evaluated.

    Procedure: Free gingival graft

Interventions

  • ProcedureFree gingival graft

    Volunteers with gingival recession will be treated with coronally advanced flap and connective tissue graft (CTG). The CTG will be obtained by harvesting a 2-mm thick free gingival graft (FGG), measuring 15 × 5 mm from the palatal area between the distal of the canine and the mesial aspect of the first molar. The palatal wound will be evaluated.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Remaining wound area (RWA)

    The RWA will be measured in square millimeters using software (Image J- NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) at baseline (trans-operative) and 1, 2, 4, and 12 weeks after the surgery

    Time frame: 3 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Epithelialization - EPT

    Standardized photographs will be taken after a disclosure solution (Disclosing Agent, Dentsply, Charlotte, NC, USA) application in the wound area at 1,2, 4, and 12 weeks postoperatively. The epithelialized area was calculated as the percentage of the original wound area using software (Image J- NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) calibrated with a measuring scale in the palate.

    Time frame: 3 months

  2. Insomnia Severity Index Survey

    The insomnia survey scores range from 0 to 28 with a higher score indicating greater insomnia.

    Time frame: Baseline and up to 4 weeks

  3. Tissue thickness - TT

    An endodontic spreader with a stop rubber will be inserted at the center of the wound area until reaching the bone. The distance between the instrument tip and the rubber stopper will be measured with a digital caliper

    Time frame: 3 months

  4. Inflammatory markers

    The wound exudate may be collected 1 week after the procedure. Two paper strips (periopaper, Oraflow, Inc.) per wound will be individually placed and left in position for 40-60 s each. Before sampling, the wound will be gently rinsed and dried using water and an air spray. Relative isolation will then be performed immediately. If contamination with blood or saliva occurs, the paper strip will be discarded, and a new sample will be collected. In sequence, both paper strips will be placed into Eppendorf tubes and stored at -80º Celsius for further processing of inflammatory markers by Multiplex assay

    Time frame: 2 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Miguel MMV, Mathias-Santamaria IF, Rossato A, Ferraz LFF, Rangel TP, Casarin RCV, Tatakis DN, Santamaria MP. Enamel matrix derivative effects on palatal mucosa wound healing: Randomized clinical trial. J Periodontal Res. 2021 Dec;56(6):1213-1222. doi: 10.1111/jre.12934. Epub 2021 Sep 19. PubMed 34541683 ↗
  • Santamaria MP, Mathias-Santamaria IF, Ferreira Bonafe AC, Gonzalez OA, Kirakodu S, Monteiro MF, Casarin RCV, Shaddox LM, Miguel MMV. Microbiome and Inflammatory Biomarkers Associated With Palatal Wound Healing. J Periodontal Res. 2025 Jul;60(7):664-675. doi: 10.1111/jre.13373. Epub 2025 Jan 13. PubMed 39801488 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — De-identified individual participant data (IPD) underlying the results reported in this study, including demographic variables, baseline characteristics, clinical measurements, outcome variables, and relevant covariates. may be made available upon a reasonable request.

Supporting information: Study protocol

09

Updates

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
Status
Not yet recruiting→Recruiting
changed Oct 22, 2026
Sites
College of Dentistry - University of Kentucky is now Recruiting
Oct 22, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Oct 22, 2026
    Not yet recruiting→Recruiting
    College of Dentistry - University of Kentucky is now Recruiting
    + 2 other changes: verification date and date precision

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07500935
Lead sponsor
Mauro Santamaria
Responsible party
Mauro Santamaria (Associate Professor, University of Kentucky) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Mar 30, 2026
Start date
Sep 9, 2026
Primary completion
Apr 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Apr 2030 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 22, 2026

Study contacts

Dawn G Dawson
Contact
dawn.dawson@uky.edu
8593235409
Mauro Pedrine Santamaria, DDS, Ms, PhD
principal investigator · University of Kentucky

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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