A CLINICAL-EVALUATION OF A BIORESORBABLE BARRIER WITH AND WITHOUT DECALCIFIED FREEZE-DRIED BONE ALLOGRAFT IN THE TREATMENT OF MOLAR FURCATIONS (CORRECTED VERSION OF XE471)

This study evaluated a bioresorbable barrier with and without decalcif ied freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA) in the treatment of human mola r furcations. 14 subjects with paired class II mandibular molar furcat ion defects participated in the study (8 male and 6 female). The class -II furcation defects were randomly treated with either the resorbable barrier alone or resorbable barrier in combination with decalcified f reeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA). Gingival recession, probing depth, clinical attachment, and bone fill were measured. 6 months post-treat ment measurements were repeated and each site was surgically re-entere d. When the resorbable barrier alone was compared to resorbable barrie r in combination with DFDBA, probing depth reduction was significantly (p<0.01) in favor of the combination therapy. Vertical bone gain was significant with the combination treatment demonstrating more bone fil l (p<0.02). Smoking was also a variable examined in this study. When c ompared to smokers, nonsmokers for both treatment groups revealed grea ter probing depth reduction, vertical bone gain, and horizontal bone g ain. Within the non-smoking group, probing depth reduction was also si gnificantly higher for the resorbable barrier and DFDBA group than the resorbable alone group (p<0.02). These results illustrate that the pr obing depth reduction is better in the non-smoker and the best in the non-smoker with the combination therapy of resorbable barrier and DFDB A than with resorbable barrier alone.