VOLUMETRIC CHANGES FOLLOWING BARRIER REGENERATION PROCEDURES FOR THE SURGICAL-MANAGEMENT OF GRADE-II MOLAR FURCATION DEFECTS IN BABOONS .1.OVERALL DEFECT FILL

A computer imaging technique has been advocated for measuring the volu metric fill in furcation defects. Histologic material for this investi gation was obtained from an animal study using five adult baboons (Pap io anubis). The photographed histology was converted into digitized el ectronic information, anti a computer calculated the overall volume of defect fill for the treated anti the untreated control sites. All vol umetric measurements were expressed as a percentage of the original su rgically created defect size, with 100% indicating complete healing of the defect The results indicate that none of the defects achieved com plete healing. Teeth that had received flay, debridement had the most overall defect fill (79.50%). Teeth that received a biodegradable barr ier (Epi-Guide) showed a mean overall defect fill of 74.98%, while sit es treated with an exclusion barrier (Gore-Tex) showed 70.75% overall fill. The untreated control teeth showed a mean overall fill of 78.70% . A variety of statistical tests revealed no significant differences a mong teeth within the same animal and between treatments and controls. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) digital imaging technology is a useful research tool for determining the volume of defect fill in surgically created grade II molar periodontal furcation defects in th e baboon model; and, (2) no significant differences were found among t he treatment modalities and the untreated control sites.