Retardation of epithelial migration in new attachment attempts in intrabony defects in monkeys

New attachment procedures were performed in 80 three-wall intrabony defects produced adjacent to incisors and canines in monkeys. Following a reverse bevel incision, mucoperiosteal flaps were raised on the buccal and lingual aspect of 40 intrabony defects. All soft tissue was removed from the defects and following transplantation of autogenous bone grafts, the tissue flaps were replaced and sutured. On the buccal and lingual aspect of another 40 intrabony defects a split flap procedure was performed. Granulation tissue was removed from the defects and following transplantation of autogenous bone grafts, the defects were covered with free palatal grafts. The animals were sacrificed to yield observation periods from 0 to 42 days. After decalcification of the specimens and embedding in paraffin, 8-mum serial sections were cut and stained. The epithelium on the full thickness flap seemed almost unaffected by the surgical procedure and had migrated between 0.2 mm and 2.0 mm along the root surface during the first week of healing. The epithelium on the transplants degenerated almost completely within the first week after surgery and epithelial migration along the root surface was not observed until after 10-12 days. These results indicate that the migration of epithelium during the postoperative phase of new attachment attempts can be retarded by covering the defects with free palatal grafts instead of full thickness flaps.