Anti-inflammatory Effect of Bioactive Glass on Human Periodontal Intrabony Defects

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of bioactive glass (BAG) on human periodontal intrabony defects. Volumes of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and elastase levels in GCF (GCF-EA) in sites of intrabony defects were determined in both with and without BAG grafting cases. Method: Twenty periodontal intrabony defects were selected from 10 generally healthy adults with periodontitis. Four weeks after completion of initial therapy, the defects were randomly assigned to either an experimental BAG group (total 13 defects) or a control open flap debridement (OFD) group (total 7 defects). For both groups, routine flap procedure was performed, but only for the BAG group, the BAG (Perioglas, US Biomaterials Corporation, USA) was implanted. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were collected with filter paper strips at baseline and 1,2,3,4,6,8,10,12 weeks post-surgery. The fluid quantity and GCF-EA level were measured by a weighing and substrating method. Results: The quantity of GCF increased significantly at the 1st week after operation, then back to the baseline level at about the 3rd week and reached the lowest point around 6th week. There were no significant differences of GCF volumes between two groups. GCF-EA levels decreased after surgery in both groups. In BAG group, the GCF-EA levels at all reevaluation points after surgery were significantly lower than the baseline (p<0.05), while in OFD group, only happened in the first month reevaluations. Compared between the two groups, the GCF-EA level was lower in BAG group with a statistically significance (p<0.05) at the 12th week reevaluation. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that bioactive glass had effects on decreasing periodontal inflammation. Therefore, the material can be a useful adjunct to conventional surgery in the treatment of intrabony defects.