The use of autogenous periosteal grafts as barriers for the treatment of intrabony defects in humans

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a c onnective tissue graft including periosteum used as a barrier for guided pe riodontal tissue regeneration in interproximal bony defects. An open flap d ebridement of a comparable interproximal bony defect in the same patient wa s used as a control. This study was performed at 2 different clinical cente rs. Six paired defects were treated at one center, and 16 paired defects at the other. Reentry surgeries were performed at 6 months. Preoperative comp arisons of control and experimental sites with respect to clinical paramete rs and osseous measurements were similar. Post-surgical experimental sites produced more gain in clinical attachment (1.25 mm on buccal and 1.25 mm on lingual sites at center A and 1.26 mm on buccal and 1.18 mm on lingual sit es at center B) and osseous defect fill (1.84 mm on buccal and 2.00 mm on l ingual sites at center A and 1.66 mm on buccal and 2.04 mm on lingual sites at center B) when compared to control sites. The results of this trial ind icate that clinical resolution of interproximal periodontal defects can be obtained with periosteal grafts used as barriers.