Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation of Chitosan Particles in Treatment of Intrabony Periodontal Defects: A Clinical Trial

Intrabony defects are among the most important signs of progression of periodontal disease. Complete tissue regeneration is the ideal goal of periodontal treatment, and regenerative methods aim to achieve this goal. New studies have reported the positive efficacy of chitosan to enhance the recovery of bony defects. This study aimed to clinically and radiographically assess the efficacy of chitosan particles for treatment of intrabony periodontal defects.

In this clinical trial, 18 intrabony three-wall periodontal defects were randomly divided into three groups (n=6). The control group only received conventional flap surgery with a sulcular incision. In the second group, low molecular weight (100,000-300,000g/mol) chitosan was used in the three-wall intrabony defects during surgery while high molecular weight chitosan particles (600,000-800,000 g/mol) were used in the third group. The probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and radiographic defect depth (RDD) were measured at baseline and at 6 and 12 months later. Repeated measures ANOVA, and McNemar’s test were used for statistical analysis.

In both the control (P<0.001) and coarse chitosan (P=0.035) groups, a significant difference was noted in PPD before and after surgery. CAL was not significantly different among the three groups (P>0.05). No significant difference was noted on radiographs between the groups regarding the regenerated bone density.

Chitosan showed no positive efficacy for treatment of three-wall periodontal bone defects.