Regenerative Therapy
Because of advances in the knowledge of oral biology, many times tissues lost to disease or trauma can be regenerated, not just repaired. This generally involves
Placing a bone graft into the area of lost bone and placing a restorable membrane over the bone graft to hold the graft in and prevent non-bone tissue from invading the graft site by excluding other tissue, bone can then regenerate. This technique is called, “Guided Tissue Regeneration” (GTR). Other forms of GTR can include applying bioactive molecules to the tooth and bone that biologically stimulate bone growth. One that presently used is Emdogain. In the relatively near future we will be using a material to stimulate bone called bone morphogenic protein. This material is very new to dental use and protocols for oral use are still being developed.
It is very important to continue maintenance cleanings after regenerative therapy and to keep excellent oral hygiene. However, these areas should not have scaling under the gums or have periodontal probing for one year. During this period, Dr. Du prefers for cleanings to be done at our office if that is O.K. with your general dentist.