Local application of hyaluronan gel in conjunction with periodontal surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Hyaluronic acid application has been proven to be beneficial in a number of medical disciplines. The aim of the current study was to clinically evaluate the effect of local application of hyaluronan gel in conjunction with periodontal surgery. Fourteen patients with chronic periodontitis having four interproximal intrabony defects (≥3 mm) with probing depth values >5 mm were included in this split-mouth study. Following initial nonsurgical periodontal therapy and re-evaluation, defects were randomly assigned to be treated with modified Widman flap (MWF) surgery in conjunction with either 0.8% hyaluronan gel (test) or placebo gel (control) application. Clinical attachment level (CAL), probing depth (PD), gingival recession (GR), plaque index (PI), and bleeding on probing (BOP) values were taken at baseline and 3 and 6 months. Differences between test and control sites were evaluated using a Wilcoxon signed-rank and a McNemar test. A Friedman and a Cochran test were used to test equal ranks over time. Statistically significant differences were noted for CAL and GR (P < 0.05) in favor of the test sites. No significant differences were found regarding PD, BOP, or PI values (P > 0.05). Hyaluronan gel application in conjunction with periodontal surgery appears to result in significant improvement of CAL and in a reduction in GR. Hyaluronan gel application appears to improve the clinical outcome of MWF surgery.