This intensive 2-day course offers a comprehensive, problem-based approach to moderate and advanced soft tissue grafting around teeth and dental implants. Led by Dr. Lorenzo Tavelli, a periodontist, scientists, international speaker, and co-developer of the Tunneled Coronally Advanced Flap (TCAF), the course blends evidence-based surgical principles with real-life clinical decision-making. Through a combination of interactive lectures, surgical videos, and hands-on exercises on models, participants will master soft tissue grafting techniques for the treatment of gingival recessions, implant esthetic complications, and peri-implant soft tissue deficiencies.

Day 1 will focus on root coverage procedures using the Coronally Advanced Flap, Tunnel techniques, and the novel TCAF in natural dentition. Day 2 addresses the critical aspects of peri-implant soft tissue phenotype, esthetic complications, and papilla augmentation at implant sites. Throughout the course, clinical scenarios are framed to simulate routine and challenging cases, allowing participants to build practical skills and treatment planning strategies directly applicable to daily practice.

By the end of the course, attendees will gain confidence in performing soft tissue grafting procedures, identifying prognostic factors, preventing complications, and applying contemporary surgical concepts with a high level of predictability and esthetic success.

What are the goals of the course?
• This course focuses on real-life common clinical situations, and how soft tissue grafting and its manipulation can lead to improvement of results and solving clinical issues. The instructor will use common real-life situations to teach the concepts of soft tissue grafting to participants, employing a problem-focused approach to learning.
• To provide scientific background, theoretical explanations, lectures, cases, and surgical videos to dive into the world of soft tissue management around teeth and implants.
• This course aims to provide knowledge that can help clinicians problem solve, treatment plan, and treat moderate to advanced soft tissue grafting cases and related concerns, based on predictable and novel surgical techniques.

Participants will learn:
• The basics and fundamentals of soft tissue grafting around teeth and implants, and differences in the features of the soft tissues and their relevance to clinical dentistry.
• To modify and augment soft tissue for health purposes around teeth and implants.
• To perform moderate and advanced soft tissue grafting in cases of gingival recessions using conventional and novel tunnel approaches
• Soft tissue palatal harvesting techniques, and key factors to consider when harvesting from the palate
• How to distinguish cases with good, moderate, and poor prognosis for each treatment, based on local and systemic factors
• How to prevent complications and adverse events in soft tissue grafting, and how to manage common complications as they arise
• How to treat soft tissue cases in the clinical setting and daily private practice, and the communication with patients
• Crucial post-operative concerns, and considerations after a soft tissue grafting procedure
• How to avoid implant failures and long-term adverse implant esthetic outcomes
• Management of implant esthetic failures with soft tissue grafting protocols

What is unique about this course?
This course is based on providing theoretical and clinical knowledge through a series of exercises that are based on a completely problem-based approach. The most common clinical scenarios are carefully selected and curated into a 3-day program, to be utilized as a platform for education of soft tissue grafting and periodontal plastic procedures around teeth and implants. This way, the educational material is presented and taught through solving a common clinical situation and thereby addressing patients’ chief concerns.

In this way, participants can have a revisiting of the foundation of periodontal and peri-implant plastic procedures, and learn newer concepts that are evidence-based and practical.

Multiple hands-on exercises are also carefully designed and embedded in the course; after corresponding lectures, briefly discuss the theoretical foundation of each clinical scenario.