Furcation defect healing after GTR with and without Emdogain ® application

V arious therapeutic procedures have been designed to promote new attachment and regeneration of periodontal tissues lost in periodontal disease. New attachment may be defined as the formation of a new cementum with inserting extrinsic collagen fibres occurring on a root surface deprived of its periodontal ligament, whether or not this has occurred because of periodontal disease or by mechanical means [1]. Periodontal regeneration may be defined as “regeneration of the tooth s supporting tissues, including alveolar bone, periodontal ligament and cementum” [2]. The term regeneration, however, implies restoration of the original morphology and function of a lost tissue. Thus, periodontal regeneration is better defined as new attachment occurring in combination with the formation of new bone and periodontal ligament which fully restore the morphology and function of the original tissues. Likewise, the term periodontal repair may be defined as the formation of a periodontal tissue which differs from the original tissue in terms of morphology and/or function. The evidence that exists regarding the potential of various procedures used in periodontal therapy to promote new attachment and periodontal regeneration was recently reviewed [2–6]. It was generally agreed that periodontal regeneration in humans is possible following surgical procedures that include the use of bone grafts or barrier membranes (guided tissue regeneration; GTR). The findings from the clinical studies reviewed in the publications cited above which evaluated the outcome of GTR were corroborated by histological evidence from animal experiments using different models [7–17]. Thus, the findings indicate that (i) new attachment or bone regrowth may occur on or adjacent to an instrumented root surface and may extend up to 3 mm in the apical-coronal Furcation defect healing after GTR with and without Emdogain® application