GUIDED TISSUE REGENERATION IN THE TREATMENT OF HUMAN INFRABONY DEFECTS - CLINICAL, RADIOGRAPHICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL RESULTS - A PILOT-STUDY

The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical, radiographical and microbiological outcome after using guided tissue regeneration (GTR) w ith a bioabsorbable membrane, Resolut(R). Subjects with bilateral infr abony defects at single rooted teeth were selected. A total of 22 teet h, 2 in each 1 of 7 patients and 4 in 2 patients, with probing pocket depth greater than or equal to 5 mm, 3 months after scaling, participa ted. At baseline, assessments of plaque and gingival indices, bleeding on probing, probing pocket depth and probing attachment level were re corded and reproducible radiographs for computer-based bone level meas urements were taken. Bacterial samples were collected to investigate t he presence of periodontitis-associated bacteria, e.g., Porphyromonas/ Prevotella- and Fusobactrium-like micro-organisms. One tooth nas rando mly treated with GTR and the contralateral with an open debridement pr ocedure as a control. Clinical, radiographical and microbiological exa minations were repeated 6 and 12 months postoperatively. Both procedur es demonstrated a statistically significant improvement of gingival co nditions, reduction of pocket depths and gain of attachment. When eval uating the differences between test and control teeth, none of the cli nical parameters yielded statistical differerence. Computer-based bone -level measurements showed only small differences in the majority of b oth test and control sites. The differences were not significant. Peri odontitis-associated bacteria were present at baseline, but the appear ance was not related to any specific site or patient and did not demon strate any unwanted change in the 6- and 12-month samples. The finding s suggest that the clinical, radiographical and microbiological improv ements were not significantly enhanced with the GTR therapy.