title: Periodontal tissue regeneration in beagle dogs after laser therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Class III periodontal furcations still represent a challenge for the periodontist. Aim of this study was to test the effect of CO2 laser on the treatment of class III furcation defects. STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHOD: Class III furcation defects 3 mm deep were surgically induced on mandibular premolars on six male Beagle dogs, for a total of 36 defects. After 6-8 weeks of plaque accumulation, the mean depth was 6.8 mm. Quadrants were randomly assigned to a) CO2 laser therapy (laser), b) Guided Tissue Regeneration (GTR) procedure using Gore-Tex Membranes, (Gore Tex, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA) and c) Scaling and Root planing (Sc/Rp). CO2 laser beam (El.En, Florence, Italy) was applied to the root surfaces in defocused pulsed mode at 2W, 1 Hz and a duty cycle of 6%, and on periodontal soft tissues at 13W, 40 Hz, and a duty cycle of 40%. Control quadrants received either GTR procedure or Sc/Rp. Mechanical oral hygiene was provided. At 6 months the animals were sacrificed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The laser group showed new attachment formation averaging 1.9 mm (sd +/- 0.5), whereas GTR and Sc/Rp showed 0.2 mm (sd +/- 0.4) and 0.2 mm (sd +/- 0.5) respectively, being the differences statistically significant between the laser group and both GTR and Sc/Rp groups (p < 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CO2 laser treatment of class III furcation induced formation of new periodontal ligament, cementum and bone.
authors.affiliation: Hospital S. Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crespi
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Covani
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Margarone
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andreana
mesh_terms: D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000628:therapy; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D003739:Dental Cementum / Q000502:physiology; D004285:Dogs; D017823:Furcation Defects / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016557:Guided Tissue Regeneration, Periodontal / Q000379:methods*; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008297:Male; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010513:Periodontal Ligament / Q000502:physiology; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene