Novel Silk Fibroin Nanofiber Membrane Using Minimally Invasive Surgery in Treatment of Periodontal Intrabony Defects: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Periodontitis is a bacterially induced chronic inflammation of the periodontium that extends beyond the gingiva and involves progressive and irreversible destruction of the connective tissue attachment of the teeth.The treatment involves debridement of the tooth surface and the adjacent areas employing scaling, root planing and periodontal flap surgery. While scaling and root planing are non-surgical treatment modalities and are conservative; periodontal flap surgery gains access to the underlying bone for complete debridement achieving pocket depth reduction, periodontal regeneration, and maintenance of periodontium in healthy condition feasible by routine home care methods by the patient.

Guided tissue regeneration (GTR) therapy is playing a key role in the management of intrabony defects. Current resorbable and non-resorbable membranes act as a physical barrier to avoid connective and epithelial tissue down-growth into the defect, favoring the regeneration of periodontal tissues. However, these conventional membranes possess many structural, mechanical, and bio-functional limitations and the "ideal" membrane for use in periodontal regenerative therapy has yet to be developed. Based on a graded-biomaterials approach, we have hypothesized that a biologically active and spatially designed and functionally graded nanofibrous material that mimics closely the native extracellular matrix ECM could succeed as the next generation of GTR membranes for periodontal tissue engineering. In the current study, using a minimally invasive surgical approach, we will compare a novel silk fibroin (SF) nanofiber membrane to collagen membrane as a regenerative treatment of intrabony periodontal defects.