Healing Process with the use of a New Resorbable Synthetic Membrane

Abstract

Background: Currently, absorbable membranes tend to be used most frequently for guided bone regeneration. They have many advantages and the most commonly reported complication is early exposure. Objective: This retrospective study reports the healing process of soft tissues over a four-week period using synthetic absorbable membranes. Study Design: One-hundred and ten cases were included. Soft tissue healing was assessed from anonymized photographs, in accordance with the criteria of the Early Healing Index (EHI) (Watchel et al., 2003). Cohen's Kappa (K) test was used to estimate the reliability of the measures and the variability between the examiners. Chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test were used to assess the combination of healing outcomes with respect to the type of surgical intervention. Results: At 1-week, 81% of the cases showed a Primary Closure (PC) when the membrane was not initially exposed. The score increased to 98% at 4-weeks. Healing at 1-week varied significantly according to the type of intervention, with 73% of primary closure for bone augmentation during implantation, versus 60% for bone augmentation before implantation and 46% for alveolar preservation (Chi-square test, p = 0.049). No statistically significant differences in the healing process were observed between the smoking and non-smoking groups. Conclusion: This clinical study shows that the safety and exposure rates of this new synthetic membrane are comparable to the data gathered in the literature concerning non-cross-linked collagenous membranes.