Clinical and radiographic evaluation of periodontal intrabony defects by open flap surgery alone or in combination with Biocollagen(®) membrane: A randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Guided tissue regeneration (GTR) is often incorporated in regenerative periodontal surgical procedures. However, the actual benefits of adding GTR to such a procedure remain undocumented. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to investigate the contribution of GTR to the outcomes of open flap debridement (OFD) in the treatment of intrabony defects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 16 patients of both sexes satisfying the criteria of chronic periodontitis and each of whom displayed one intrabony defect were randomly assigned to two groups, i.e. either treated with open flap surgery and GTR (group 1) or with open flap surgery alone (group 2), in this parallel-arm study. The soft tissue and hard tissue measurements, including probing pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and bone mineral density were recorded at baseline and 3,6 and 12 months after surgery. The differences with a P < 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: Results showed that the membrane group showed significant difference when compared with open flap surgery alone, in relation to the degree of periodontal pocket, clinical attachment loss, and bone density. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that biocollagen membrane could be considered as an option in the treatment of intrabony defects. Biocollagen membrane alone gives favorable clinical results in the treatment of intrabony defects. Open flap debridement resulted in acceptable clinical results in the treatment of intrabony defects.