A total of 9 teeth were treated with a free gingival graft followed by a coronally positioned flap in conjunction with conditioning of the root surface with citric acid. The grafting procedure was done 2 weeks after the subjects could perform adequate plaque control. Thirty days after grafting, a mucoperiosteal flap was raised. The root surface was thoroughly planed and conditioned with citric acid at pH 1.0, and the flap was then positioned coronally. Clinical measurements of the amount of recession, sulcus depth, and keratinized gingiva were taken preoperatively, and at 30 and 60 days after surgery. Recession was reduced by a mean of 3.24 +/- 2.08 mm. Width of keratinized gingiva was increased to a mean of 4.99 +/- 1.23 mm. Both of these findings were highly significant. Sulcus depth was not significantly changed.