Regenerative periodontal therapy.

Regenerative periodontal therapy comprises procedures which are specially designed to restore parts of the tooth supporting apparatus which have been lost due to periodontitis. A procedure must fulfill certain criteria to be considered a therapy which encourages regeneration. This paper discusses a variety of surgical approaches including root surface conditioning, the placement of bone garfts or bone substitute implants and the use of organic or synthetic barrier membranes (GTR). Evidence is presented that regenerative surgery utilising the GTR principle fulfills all the criteria required of a surgical procedure to be considered a procedure leading to periodontal regeneration.