Healing of intrabony defects following treatment with a bovine-derived xenograft and collagen membrane - A controlled clinical study

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to compare clinically the treatment of deep intrabony defects with a combination of a bovine-derived xenograft (BDX) and a bioresorbable collagen membrane to access flap surgery. Methods: Twenty-eight patients suffering from chronic periodontitis, and each of whom displayed one intrabony defect, were randomly treated with BDX + collagen membrane (test) or with access flap surgery (control). Soft tissue measurements were made at baseline and at 1 year following therapy. Results: No differences in any of the investigated parameters were observed at baseline between the two groups. Healing was uneventful in all patients. At 1 year after therapy, the test group showed a reduction in mean probing depth (PD) from 9.2 +/- 1.3 to 3.9 +/- 0.7 mm (p < 0.001) and a change in mean clinical attachment level (CAL) from 10.2 +/- 1.5 to 6.2 +/- 0.5 mm (p < 0.0001). In the control group, the mean PD was reduced from 9.0 +/- 1.2 to 5.2 +/- 1.8 mm (p < 0.001) and the mean CAL changed from 10.5 +/- 1.5 to 8.4 +/- 2.1 mm (p < 0.01). The test treatment resulted in statistically higher PD reductions (p less than or equal to 0.05) and CAL gains (p < 0.001) than the control one. In the test group all sites (100%) gained at least 3 mm of CAL. In the control group no CAL gain occurred in four sites (29%), whereas at six sites (43%) the CAL gain was 2 mm. A CAL gain of 3 mm or more was measured in four defects (29%). Conclusions: Within the limits of the present study, it can be concluded that: (i) at 1 year after surgery both therapies resulted in significant PD reductions and CAL gains, and (ii) treatment with BDX + collagen membrane resulted in significantly higher CAL gains than treatment with access flap surgery.