Guided bone regeneration: integration of a resorbable membrane and a bone graft material.

Guided bone regeneration relies primarily on four principles--exclusion of unwanted tissues and cells, space creation and maintenance, protection of the underlying blood clot, and wound stabilization. For successful bone regeneration to occur, large bony defects require an underlying grafting material and a cell-occlusive membrane. The learning objective of this article is to review the history and principles of guided bone regeneration and describe the characteristics of a slowly resorbing bilayer collagen membrane, well suited for bone regeneration procedures. An osteoconductive bone grafting material and its ability to support the overlying collagen membrane and serve as a matrix for the ingrowth of vascular and bone-forming cells are discussed.