Guided Tissue Regeneration

An important goal of periodontal therapyis to obtain a reduced pocket depth after treatment in order to arrest furtherdisease progression. Usually, this goal can be accomplished by non-surgical therapy in patients withmoderate periodontitis, whereas in advanced cases, particularly in the presenceof intrabony defects and furcations, the treatment must be supplemented withperiodontal surgery. A fundamental objective of periodontal surgery is toprovide access for proper instrumentation and cleaning of the root surface, but in addition, most surgical procedures result in the elimination or the reductionof the soft tissue component of the periodontal pocket. Traditionally, the elimination of deep pockets is achieved by gingivectomy or apical displacement of raised tissue flaps, sometimes associated with bonecontouring. In recent years, however, the use of regenerative procedures aimed at restoring the lost periodontal support.