Treatment of Class II furcation defects of maxillary and mandibular molars on the buccal and lingual using bioresorbable memebrane alone or in combination of bioresorbable membrane and laser

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the clinical outcome of treating a Class II buccal or lingual furcation defects in maxillary and mandibular molars with bioresorbable membrane alone versus bioresorbable membrane and Er,Cr: YSGG lasers.;Materials and Methods: A total of 31 furcation defects from 31 subjects were treated in the study. Maxillary buccal or mandibular buccal or lingual furcation defects were randomly assigned to either a test group or control group. The Guided Tissue Regeneration (GTR) surgical technique was followed utilizing a bioresorbable membrane after debridement of the furcation defect with hand and ultrasonic instruments. Laser irradiation was used as an adjunct to hand debridement prior to membrane placement in the test group. The control group received debridement with hand and ultrasonic instruments plus bioresorbable membrane. Clinical and intrasurgical measurements were carried out at the initial (baseline) and re-entry surgeries. Changes in probing depth (vertical and horizontal), clinical attachment levels (vertical and horizontal), recession and bone fill within and between groups were associated with the furcation defects were evaluated.;Results: Decreases in PDs, PI, GI, increases in gingival recession, and gains in CALs were observed in both treatments groups after treatment intervention. Statistically significant improvements of the bony defects of the furcations were found after treatment in both test and control groups. Between group comparisons found statistically significant reduction in the HPD favoring the test treatment. No statistically significant differences were found for any of the other clinical and intrasurgical measurements. When considering the influence of severity of the furcation defects on measured treatment outcomes, deep sites showed statistically significant improvements in horizontal probing depth when compared to shallow defects in both the test and control groups and deep defects in the control group.;Conclusion: The guided tissue regeneration surgical approach for the treatment of Class 2 buccal or lingual furcation defects leads to statistically significant improvements in clinical parameters and in reducing the severity of the furcation defect. The addition of laser irradiation to the root surfaces was seen to be beneficial only in reduction of horizontal depth in treatment of Class II furcation defects. The addition of laser irradiation to the root surfaces was especially beneficial in treating deeper Class II furcation defects (initial horizontal probing depths ≥ 5 mm).