TREATMENT OF INTERPROXIMAL ANGULAR DEFECTS BY GUIDED TISSUE REGENERATION - 1 YEAR FOLLOW-UP

The periodontal regeneration of interproximal bone defects of the post erior teeth produced by guided tissue regeneration (GTR), with expande d Polytetrafluoroethylene barrier membranes and conventional therapy, was clinically evaluated in 20 intrabony periodontal defects in 10 pat ients. The material included the presence of at least two proximal ang ular lesions for the same patient, probing pocket depth greater than o r equal to 6 mm, bone defect depth greater than or equal to 3 mm, and 2-wall defects with crestal involvement relative to the tooth circumfe rence ranging from 90 to 270 degrees. Healing was clinically evaluated by surgical re-entry of GTR-treated sites (10 sites) and debridement only sites (10 sites) 1 year after initial surgery following a strict plaque control regimen. A significant correlation was observed between probing depth reduction, attachment-gain and defect depth (test-sites ); there was increased bone fill in GTR-treated lesions of 2.95 +/- 1. 3 mm corresponding to a 69.4% improvement compared to control sites, a nd 1.3 +/- 1.0 mm corresponding to a 32% improvement (P < 0.0039). The results demonstrated that bone regeneration is highly reliable, as co mpared to conventional therapy, in cases of severe periodontal bone lo ss from posterior teeth provided that the principles of GTR are applie d.