Background: The aim of the present controlled clinical study was to compare the clinical response of human cultured periosteum (HCP) sheets in combination with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and porous hydroxyapatite (HA) granules to a mixture of PRP and HA in the treatment of human infrabony periodontal defects.
Methods: Thirty interproximal infrabony osseous defects in 30 healthy, non-smoking subjects diagnosed with chronic periodontitis were included in this study. The subjects were randomly assigned to the test group (HCP sheets combined with PRP and HA) or the control group (PRP with HA). Clinical and radiographic measurements were made at baseline and the 12-month post-surgical evaluation.
Results: Compared to baseline, the 12-month results indicated that both treatment modalities resulted in statistically significant changes (P<0.01) in the gingival index, bleeding on probing, probing depth, clinical attachment level, and radiographic infrabony defect depth. Compared to the control group, the test group exhibited a statistically significantly more favorable change in clinical attachment gain (3.9 +/- 1.6 mm versus 2.7 +/- 1.3 mm; P<0.05), vertical relative attachment gain (83.5% +/- 31.7% versus 55.0% +/- 21.9%; P <0.05), and radiographic infrabony defect fill (4.9 +/- 1.2 mm versus 3.2 +/- 1.1 mm; P<0.01).
Conclusions: Compared to PRP with HA, treatment with a combination of HCP sheets, PRP, and HA led to a significantly more favorable clinical improvement in infrabony periodontal defects. A factor likely contributing to these favorable clinical results is the presence of osteogenic cells in the HCP sheets, which provided greater regeneration potential.