An article in the Journal of Dental Research (JDR) reports the largest study to date in the field of periodontal regenerative therapy.

A randomised, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in 253 adults afflicted with periodontitis. Periodontal surgery was performed, during which one of three different doses of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) was randomly administered to localised bone defects. Each dose of FGF-2 showed significant superiority over the standard of care for the percentage of bone fill at 36 weeks after administration, and the percentage peaked in the mid-dose FGF-2 group. These results strongly show that the topical application of FGF-2 can be efficacious in the regeneration of human periodontal tissue that has been destroyed by periodontitis.

The study was conducted by M. Kitamura, from Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Japan, and a team of researchers.

Most current therapies cannot predictably promote repair of tooth-supporting defects. A variety of regenerative approaches have been used clinically using bone grafts and guiding tissue membranes with limited success.

'The tissue engineering technology has important ramifications in the treating of localized bone defects around teeth resulting from periodontal disease,' said JDR Editor-in-Chief, William Giannobile.

The abstract published in the JDR is available online at http://bit.ly/jdr4616.