A clinical evaluation of bioactive glass particulate in the treatment of mandibular class II furcation defects

Bioactive glass particulate has been applied to dentistry in the treatment of bone defects, ridge preservation and periodontal bone defects including the furcation defects. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical attachment gain and vertical and horizontal bone fill obtained with open flap debridement (OFD) alone and OFD with bioactive glass particulate in the treatment of mandibular Class II furcation defects. Twenty mandibular class II furcation defects were selected in 16 systemically healthy patients out of which 10 defects were treated with OFD alone (Group I) and other 10 defects were treated with OFD and bioactive glass particulate (Group II). Each defect was randomly assigned to Group I and Group II. The soft tissue and hard tissue measurements including vertical probing depth, horizontal probing depth, clinical attachment level, gingival recession, vertical depth of the furcation defects, and horizontal depth of the furcation defects were recorded at baseline and six months post surgery. At 6 months evaluation, both treatment procedures resulted in significant improvement in soft tissue and hard tissue parameters when compared to the baseline. There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to soft tissue changes (p>0.05) like probing depth reduction (3.30 mm versus 2.90 mm), clinical attachment level gain (2.90 mm Vs 2.80 mm) and gingival recession. Vertical defect fill were significantly greater in the bioactive glass sites (1.50 mm) compared to control sites (0.80 mm). There was highly significant reduction in horizontal probing depth of the defect (1.80 mm Vs 1.10 mm, p< 0.05) after 6 months post surgery. In conclusion, bioactive glass showed significant improvement in clinical parameters like vertical and horizontal defect fill in mandibular class II furcation defects when compared to OFD.