In the not too distant past, periodontal surgery was considered "radical" treatment and root planning was considered "conservative". The conflict between these modalities of treatment was based on the fact that periodontal surgery was excisional. Currently, periodontal surgery is thought of in two components: excisional periodontal surgery and regenerative periodontal surgery. Periodontal plastic surgery represents one phase of regenerative periodontal surgery. Originally, periodontal plastic surgery was referred to as mucogingival surgery. Mucogingival therapy is a general term used to describe periodontal treatment involving procedures for the correction of defects in the morphology, position and/or amount of soft tissue and underlying bone support around teeth and implants.