Start practicing

Periodontics · patient case question

The primary treatment objective of guided tissue regeneration is:

Patient case: Advanced Periodontitis

demo: 48-year-old male

chief: “My teeth are moving and I have gaps that were never there.”

history: Type 2 diabetes, HbA1c 8.4%. Smokes 15 cigarettes per day.

meds: Metformin

findings: Probing depths 7–10 mm generalized. Interdental clinical attachment loss extending beyond the middle third of the root at more than five teeth. Class II furcations at #3 and #14, tooth mobility degree 2, pathologic migration with flaring of the maxillary incisors, 18 remaining teeth. Radiographic bone loss has advanced 3 mm in the last 4 years.

  1. Coronal repopulation of the root surface by periodontal ligament cells
  2. Elimination of the pocket by apical repositioning of the gingival margin
  3. Sclerosis of the defect with dense connective tissue
  4. Rapid coverage of the defect by junctional epithelium
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A. Coronal repopulation of the root surface by periodontal ligament cells

  • A. Correct. The membrane excludes the fast-migrating epithelial and gingival connective tissue cells so that PDL cells, which are slower, can move coronally and regenerate cementum, PDL, and bone with new Sharpey's fiber insertion.
  • B. Apical repositioning is the goal of resective surgery, not regeneration.
  • C. Fibrous scarring is repair, not the functional periodontal attachment GTR aims for.
  • D. Epithelial downgrowth is exactly what the barrier is designed to prevent — it produces a long junctional epithelium, which is repair, not regeneration.

Practice Periodontics questions Periodontics study notes

More Periodontics practice questions