Second Attempt of Guided Tissue Regeneration on a Previous Successfully Grafted Site with Periodontal Breakdown—A 5-Year Follow-up

Guided tissue regeneration (GTR) has been proven to promote attachment and regeneration of periodontal tissue. However, there is a 20 to 40% incidence of attachment loss on regenerated attachments reported in the literature. To my knowledge, this is the first case report on a second attempt in GTR on a previous successful grafted site with clinical attachment loss. A healthy 17-year-old Chinese male patient had GTR performed with xenograft particles and bovine resorbable membrane on his root-canal treated, fused upper right lateral incisor and upper right canine (#12-#13) in 2007. Probing depth on the mid-palatal region of #12-#13 was reduced to 4 mm and maintained for the next 4 years. But in the fifth year, probing depth increased to 11 mm with no endodontic symptoms, and a second attempt of GTR using the same materials was carried out. The probing depth at the surgical site was reduced to 4 mm and successfully maintained for another 5 years. Irregular maintenance and the presence of plaque retentive factor could have caused the clinical attachment loss on #12-#13. This case shows it is possible to attempt GTR on a previous successfully grafted site. GTR did not increase tissue resistance against periodontal breakdown. Hence, proper maintenance planning for GTR sites is important to prevent periodontal breakdown.