Regenerative Therapy of Furcation Involvements in Preclinical Models: What is Feasible?

This chapter reviews the current evidence on pre‐clinical and clinical human studies on the potential to regenerate furcation defects. In regenerative periodontal medicine, the dog model has been used for the histological demonstration of guided tissue regeneration (GTR) in various defect types, such as furcations, supracrestal, and infrabony defects. Four types of experimentally induced furcation defects have been used for testing the effects of different therapeutic modalities in pre‐clinical studies. These include defects resulting from naturally occurring periodontitis and three types of experimentally produced defects: the acute defect, the chronic defect, and the combined acute/chronic defect. A variety of biocompatible barriers, non‐absorbable or bioabsorbable has been used for the regeneration of class II furcation defects. Complete closure of class III furcation defects with the formation of periodontal ligament and regrowth of the bone was achieved.