ObjectiveTo compare the half-year clinical efficacy of three different surgical root coverage methods including lateral sliding flap (LSF), subepithelial connective tissue graft (CTG) and acellular dermal matrix allograft (ADM). MethodsEighteen patients (24 teeth) with gingival recession treated in our hospital between December 2012 and July 2015 were selected and divided into three groups according to a certain sequence with 8 teeth in each group. The three groups of teeth were treated with LSF, CTG and ADM respectively. Gingival recession, probing depth and keratinized gingival width at both baseline and 6 months after surgery of all patients were recorded for inner- and inter-group comparison. ResultsAll three methods proved to be effective within 6 months with an awerage of 2.8-4.0 mm in decrease extent of gingival recession (P<0.01). LSF did not significantly change the probing depth (P>0.05) as the other two did (P<0.01). The differences among three surgical methods compared before and after surgery were all significant (P<0.05). ConclusionLSF, CTG and ADM are all effective surgical means for root coverage. Within 6 months, CTG presents better effects than ADM, and ADM better than LSF.