Periodontal tissue repair in the aesthetic zone

Introduction Periodontal regeneration (PR) has provided the practitioner with a more conservative therapeutic strategy for the treatment of infrabony periodontal defects. In fact, PR not only helps reducing periodontal pocket depth (PPD), but it also allows to gain clinical attachment level (CAL) with minimal negative effects on gingival recession (REC), which is particularly important when treating aesthetic areas. In this paper, we will evaluate different approaches for periodontal regenerative therapy in the aesthetic area and we will suggest how regenerative treatment of infrabony defects may be tailored to even have a positive effect on REC. These approaches are different when compared to traditional guided tissue regeneration (GTR) techniques used for root coverage purposes; instead they help reducing REC by reestablishing a positive periodontal architecture via regeneration and im proving the support for soft tissues during wound healing.