Histometric evaluation of periodontal surgery. II. Connective tissue attachment levels after four regenerative procedures.

The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of four periodontal regenerative procedures on the connective tissue attachment level. The procedures tested were: 1) the modified Widman flap procedure, 2) the modified Widman flap procedure combined with transplantation of previously frozen autogenous red marrow and cancellous bone, 3) the modified Widman flap procedure in combination with implantation of beta tricalcium phosphate, and 4) periodic root planing and soft tissue curettage. Eight adult Rhesus monkeys, divided into four equal groups, were used. Periodontal pockets were produced around contralateral teeth in a standardized manner. In each group of animals, the pockets on one side of the jaws were subjected to one of the above-mentioned surgical treatments, while the contralateral pockets remained as unoperated controls. Three weeks before surgery, a carefully designed plaque control program was instituted and continued until the animals were sacrificed 12 months after surgery. In histologic sections, linear measurements along the root surfaces were made from the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) to the most apical cells of the junctional epithelium (JE). These measurements from operated and unoperated sites were then compared. The data revealed that healing following the four different regenerative procedures resulted in the reformation of an epithelial lining (long junctional epithelium) along the treated root surfaces, with no new connective tissue attachment.