COMPARISON OF BIOACTIVE GLASS SYNTHETIC BONE-GRAFT PARTICLES AND OPENDEBRIDEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF HUMAN PERIODONTAL DEFECTS - A CLINICAL-STUDY

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY was to compare the repair response of bioact ive glass synthetic bone graft particles and open debridement in the t reatment of human periodontal osseous defects. Fifty-nine defects in 1 6 healthy adults were selected. Each patient had at least 2 sites with attachment loss of at least 6 mm with clinical and radiographic evide nce of intrabony or furcation defects. One to 3 months after cause-rel ated therapy (oral hygiene instructions, scaling and root planing), th e following measurements were recorded prior to surgery: probing depth s, clinical attachment level, and gingival recession. Each defect was surgically exposed and measurements made of the alveolar crest height and base of osseous defect. The test defects were implanted with bioac tive glass. The other sites served as unimplanted controls. Flaps were sutured at or close to the presurgical level. Radiographs and soft ti ssue presurgical measurements were repeated at 6, 9, and 12 months. At 12 months all sites were surgically re-entered to record osseous meas urements. At the 12-month evaluation, significantly greater mean probi ng depth reduction was noted in the bioactive glass group compared to the controls (4.26 mm versus 3.44 mm; P = 0.028). Clinical attachment level gain was significantly improved (P = 0.0004) in the bioactive gl ass sites (2.96 mm) compared to the control sites (1.54 mm). There was significantly less gingival recession in the bioactive glass sites (1 .29 mm) compared to the control sites (1.87 mm). Defect fill was signi ficantly greater in the bioactive glass sites (3.28 mm) compared to th e control sites (1.45 mm). Defect depth reduction was significantly gr eater in the bioactive glass sites (4.36 mm) compared to the control s ites (3.15 mm). In conclusion, bioactive glass showed significant impr ovement in clinical parameters compared to open flap debridement.