Abstract
Background and aims. Complete and predictable regeneration of tissue lost as a result of infection
or trauma is the ultimate goal of periodontal therapy. Various graft materials have been successfully
used in the treatment of intrabony defects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a decalcified
freeze-dried bone allograft (Cerabone) with the autogenous bone graft as a gold standard in the
treatment of human two- or three-wall intrabony periodontal defects.
Materials and methods. This split-mouth study was done on 10 pairs of matched two- or three-wall
intrabony periodontal defects with 5 mm or more probing depth and 3 mm or more depth of intrabony
component following phase I therapy. In the control sites autogenous bone graft and in the test sites decalcified
freeze-dried bone allograft were used.
Results. At baseline, no significant differences were found in terms of oral hygiene and defect characteristics.
At six months, analysis showed a significant improvement in soft and hard tissue parameters
for both treatment groups as compared to preoperative measurements. There were no statistical differences
in clinically-measured parameters between treatment groups after 6 months except for crestal resorption
that increased significantly in control group (P = 0.25). Defect resolution and bone fill in the
test and control groups were 2.5 ± 0.46 mm versus 2.7 ± 0.73 mm and 2 ± 0.62 mm versus 2.20 ± 0.52
mm, respectively.
Conclusion. The results of this study demonstrated that both graft materials improved clinical parameters.
The comparison of the two treatment groups did not show any significant differences in clinical
parameters after six months. However, because of the limited amount of intra-oral donor bone, it is
preferable to use decalcified freeze-dried bone allograft.