I may not have been asking this question the right way previously. is it now or will it ever be possible to reliably rebuild the interdental "bone crest" between teeth that attaches to teeth and helps form the papilla height? any answers appreciated?

Possible : I is possible but not highly predictable. There are a number of reasons for this but it somewhat depends on what the reason for the loss of hard/soft tissue was. Bone grafting and soft tissue augmentation can be performmed by a skilled surgeon however maintenacne of the papillary height is also reliant on the contours of the teeth adjacent.

Not sure: Once the papilla is gone between teeth, it is very hard to impossible to rebuild it for now, may be in the further. For a single tooth, in theory, extrude the tooth from the socket by mean of orthodontia pulling up the bone and gums with it, unfortunately, the amount of extrusion could lead to root canal treatmeat and capping of the tooth. Research for a real solution is still years away. Sorry!

Gingival recession: Huge strides have been made over the past few years in bone and tissue replacement. You have leading edge support available to you right in your own community. Make an appointment with a bone/gum expert a specialist Periodontist, for leading edge care. As you live in Philadelphia you may also want to seek evaluation at either Penn or Temple's Dental School's Departments of Periodontology.