Healing events following nonsurgical periodontal therapy in patients with periodontal pockets up to 12 mm deep were investigated. Incisors, cuspids and premolars in 16 patients were treated by plaque control and supra- and subgingival debridement using hand or ultrasonic instruments in a split mouth approach. The results were evaluated by recording of plaque scores, bleeding on probing, probing pocket depths and probing attachment levels. Minimal change in gingival conditions occurred during the initial 3 months of experimentation, which were utilized for plaque control measures alone. Subsequent to instrumentation and during the following 9-month period, a gradual and marked improvement of periodontal conditions took place. During the remaining 12 months of the 24-month experimental period no further changes of the recorded parameters were noted. No differences in results could be observed when comparing hand versus ultrasonic instrumentation, or when comparing the results of 2 different operators. Initially, a total of 305 sites demonstrated probing pocket depths greater than or equal to 7 mm. At the 24-month examination 43 such sites remained. The results indicate that there is no certain magnitude of initial probing pocket depth where nonsurgical periodontal therapy is no longer effective.

Healing events after nonsurgical periodontal therapy in patients with periodontal pockets 4--7 mm deep were investigated. Incisors, cuspids and premolars in 15 patients were treated by plaque control and supra- and subgingival debridement using hand or ultrasonic instruments in a split mouth approach. The results were evaluated by recordings of plaque scores, bleeding on probing, probing pocket depths and probing attachment levels. All these parameters were improved during the initial 4--5 months after start of therapy. Little change occurred during the rest of the 13-month observation period. No difference of results could be observed comparing hand and ultrasonic instrumentation or comparing the results of two different operators. Initially a total of 106 sites demonstrated probing pocket depths greater than or equal to 6 mm. At 13 months only 13 such sites were observed. The apparently successful results of conservative treatment of patients with 4--7 mm deep pockets in the present study raise the question to what extent nonsurgical therapy is feasible also in patients with severely advanced lesions.

Thirty (30) class I and class II recessions in 30 subjects were treated with a subepithelial connective tissue graft procedure. In one group (15 sites), the surgery was carried out in a traditional fashion: the epithelial collar of the graft was preserved and left exposed (CTG group). In the second group (15 sites), the epithelial collar of the graft was removed and the recession areas were conditioned with citric acid. The graft was then sutured and completely immersed under the facial flap which was coronally repositioned (CR group). Clinical assessments included probing depth, probing attachment level, surface area of the recession, and gingival width. These measurements were taken at baseline and at 6 months. In addition, an esthetic evaluation was done. The differences between treatments were not statistically significant except for the augmentation of gingiva (P < or = 0.05). Based on the midfacial measurements taken in the central area of the recession, the mean percentage of root coverage was 69.2%. In the CR group, 3 of the 15 recessions exhibited complete root coverage; the gingival augmentation was 65.5%. In the CTG group, 5 of the 15 recessions exhibited complete root coverage; the gingival augmentation was 94.4%. The mean surface area of root exposure was reduced from 13.82 mm2 and 13.67 mm2 to 2.15 mm2 and 2.34 mm2 for the CR group and the CTG group, respectively. One-hundred percent (100%) of good-to-moderate esthetic results were found by a panel of independent examiners; there was tendency toward better results in the CR group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Wound healing in an incisional wound is a highly predictable process which has been studied extensively hour-by-hour and day-by-day. Healing in a periodontal defect following gingival flap surgery is, conceptually, a more complex process as one wound margin consists of calcified tissue, including the avascular and rigid root surface. Another complicating factor in this wound healing is the transgingival position of the tooth. Experimental studies, however, have indicated that healing at a dento-gingival interface under optimal conditions occurs at the same rate as in a skin wound. Generally, periodontal healing is characterized by maturation of gingival connective tissue, limited regeneration of alveolar bone and cementum, and the formation of a long junctional epithelium. Such observations have nurtured the hypothesis that the epithelium of the surgical flap needs to be prevented from early access to the root surface during the healing period to achieve connective tissue repair of the root surface-gingival flap interface. Recent experimental findings suggest, however, that connective tissue repair to the root surface following reconstructive periodontal surgery is a function of the establishment and maintenance of a root surface-adhering fibrin clot. Since fibrin adherence to the wound margins is a natural event, it is additionally suggested that apical migration of the gingival epithelium in periodontal surgical wounds may only follow interruption of the adherence of the fibrin clot to the root surface.

A wound stabilizing effect of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes was evaluated in supra-alveolar periodontal defects in 5 beagle dogs. The defects, 5 to 6 mm in height, were surgically created around the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th mandibular premolar teeth in contralateral jaw quadrants. The root surfaces were conditioned with heparin, which, in this model, has been demonstrated to compromise periodontal healing and result in formation of a long junctional epithelium. Wound closure included application of ePTFE membranes around each premolar tooth in one jaw quadrant in each dog and flap positioning coronal to the cemento-enamel junction in both jaw quadrants. Healing progressed uneventfully except for 3 teeth in 2 dogs, which experienced membrane exposure. The dogs were sacrificed after a 4-week healing period and tissue blocks were prepared for histometric analysis. Connective tissue repair in heparin+membrane-treated teeth averaged 98% of the defect height compared to 84% in control heparin-treated teeth (P < or = 0.05). Junctional epithelium formation was smaller in membrane-treated teeth than in control teeth (P < or = 0.05) and was usually terminated coronal to the membrane. Bone regeneration was enhanced in membrane-treated teeth compared to controls (P < or = 0.01) and was strongly correlated to the area under the membrane in teeth without membrane exposure (r2 = 0.993; P = 0.002). This correlation was reduced when teeth with membrane exposure were included in the analysis (P < or = 0.05). Cementum regeneration was minimal under both treatment conditions. Root resorption was increased in membrane-treated compared to control teeth (P < or = 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)