Guided Tissue Regeneration - How It Works

As a dental surgeon with iSmileSpa, Dr. Mickel Malek brings advanced restorative dentistry to patients in Northern California. In his prior role with Santa Barbara Dental Care, Dr. Mickel Malek performed a number of such procedures, including guided tissue regeneration.

As its name indicates, guided tissue regeneration encourages the growth of new connective tissue in a mouth damaged by periodontal disease. It involves the placement of a particular biomaterial, which often serves as a barrier to exclude tissue types that may otherwise interfere with regrowth.

Medical science deems regeneration to have been successful when testing indicates that all lost tissue types have grown. In many cases, patients instead heal to the level of repair by new attachments. This occurs when epithelium or connective tissue links with a root surface previously bereft of its naturally occurring attachment tissue. 

Regardless of whether complete regeneration or reattachment occurs, this procedure can restore much of the structure and function lost as an effect of periodontal disease. To be indicated, the patient must have received treatment for periodontal disease, and the disease itself must be no longer active.