Methods: Five patients with a total of seven intrabony defects were treated with guided tissue regeneration. Each patient exhibited at least one or two intrabony defects with a probing depth ³ 6 mm as identified by probing and on radiographs. The following clinical parameters were evaluated at the baseline and at 7 years after treatment: probing depth (PD), gingival recession (GR), and clinical attachment level (CAL). The primary outcome variable was CAL. The measurements were made at 6 sites per tooth: mesiobuccal (mv), buccal (v), distobuccal (db), mesiolingual (ml), lingual (l), distolingual (dl). The cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) was used as reference point. In case the CEJ was not visible, a restoration margin was used for these measurements. In this study only the data for the deepest point of the selected defects were reported.
Results: The mean probing depth was reduced from 7.8 ± 1.5 mm to 3.7 ± 1.3 mm (p<0.001) at 7 years. At 7 years the mean recession of the gingival margin increased from 2.1 ± 1.2 mm to 4.0 ± 1.4 mm (p<0.039). No statistical signifikant differences were found between the mean GR at the baseline and at seven years. The mean CAL changed from 10.0 ± 1.4 mm to 7.7 ± 2.0 mm (p<0.070 ) at 7 years. The CAL change between the baseline and 7 years presented no statistically significant differences.
Conclusion: It was concluded that the CAL gain obtained following treatment with guided tissue regeneration can be maintained over a 7 years period.