Evaluation of Guided Bone Regeneration and/or Bone Grafts in the Treatment of Ligature-induced Peri-implantitis Defects: A Morphometric Study in Dogs

The goal of this study was to evaluate, morphometrically, hard-tissue healing following the treatment of ligature-induced peri-implantitis defects in dogs and guided bone regeneration and/or bone grafts. Five dogs were used, and the mandibular premolars were removed. Three months later, two titanium implants were installed on each side of the mandible, and after another 3 months, abutment connection was performed. Following abutment connection, experimental periimplantitis was induced by placing cotton ligatures in a submarginal position. Ligatures and abutments were removed after 1 month and the bony defects were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: debridement (DE), debridement plus guided bone regeneration (GBR), debridement plus mineralized bone graft (BG), and debridement plus guided bone regeneration associated with mineralized bone graft (GBR/BG). The dogs were euthanatized after 5 months. Morphometric analysis did not reveal significant differences among the treatments neither with respect to the percentage of bone to implant contact (p = 0.996) nor to the bone area (p = 0.946) within the limits of the threads of the implant. Within the limits of this investigation, there is insufficient evidence to indicate that any of the treatments presented an improved response in dealing with bony defects resulting from peri-implantitis.