January 2019

Introduction: Periodontitis is a chronic infection affecting the supporting tissues of the teeth which, if left untreated, eventually leads to tooth loss. Various grafting materials and barrier membranes have been used to repair periodontal intraosseous lesions. It has been shown that chitosan, a natural polymer, has potential to be used for periodontal tissue regeneration. Thus, it is possible that chitosan, in conjunction with bone grafting, might have good potential to be used for periodontal regeneration. The purpose of this case series was to evaluate the efficacy of chitosan, along with bovine porous bone mineral, in periodontal regeneration of intrabony defects. Materials and Methods: Ten patients aged between 30 and 55 years with intrabony defects ≥3 mm and pocket probing depth (PPD) ≥5 mm were selected. All participants received chitosan gel (15% w/v) plus bovine porous bone mineral as a composite bone graft. Clinical and radiographic measurements were recorded at baseline, 3 months after healing and at 6 and 9 months. Significance was set at 0.05. Results: After nine months, all the defects treated with this combination showed PPD reduction of 5.30 ± 0.822 mm, relative clinical attachment level (CAL) gain of 5.80 ± 0.499 mm, reduction in intrabony defect (IBD) depth of 3.00 ± 0.497 mm and defect resolution of 78.32 ± 5.80 %, all of which were statistically significant. Conclusion: Within the limits of this study, this case series study suggests that chitosan gel, along with bovine porous bone mineral, has a promising role to play in periodontal regeneration.