ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of acellular dermal matrix (ADM) and subepithelial connective tissue flap (sCTG) on patients with gingival recession (GR).MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about the efficacy of ADM and sCTG on patients with GR from inception to August 11st, 2019. Two reviewers indepeudently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, and then meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software and Stata 12.1 software.ResultsA total of 9 RCTs were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: there were no significant differences in probing depth (PD) (MD3m=−0.04, 95%CI −0.18 to 0.11, P=0.63; MD6m=−0.01, 95%CI −0.13 to 0.12, P=0.90) and GR degree (MD3m=−0.10, 95%CI −0.37 to 0.18, P=0.48; MD6m=−0.02, 95%CI −0.33 to 0.29, P=0.89) in 3 and 6 months after operative between two groups. But the clinical attachment loss (CAL) in 3 months after operation (MD=0.33, 95%CI 0.00 to 0.66, P=0.05) and width of keratinized tissue (KTW) in 6 months after operation (MD=−0.48, 95%CI −0.76 to −0.20, P=0.000 7) of sCTG group were superior to ADM group, the differences were statistically significant.ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that there are no differences in PD and GR degree in 3 months and 6 months after operation between ADM and sCTG group. But the CAL in 3 months after operation and KTW in 6 months after operation of sCTG group is superior to ADM group. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify above conclusion.