The goal of periodontal therapy is to restore diseased tissue to a healthy state. For more advanced types of periodontal disease, a special type of gum surgery may be required in order to attempt to rebuild tissue that has been previously destroyed. This procedure is called periodontal regeneration.

Normally, during periodontal surgery, the gum tissue is opened to expose the damaged underlying bone support. If the damage is minor, the bone can be smoothened over much like a scratch in a piece of furniture can be sanded down. In that way, a dentist creates a smooth floor of bone to support the carpet of gum tissue and its seal of gum to tooth.

Unfortunately, in more advanced stages, the damage to the bone is so severe that smoothing it out becomes impossible. In these cases, the dentist will try to fill in the areas of bone destruction with new bone material. This material, made up of freeze-dried demineralized bone, provides a framework for your body to regenerate its lost bone support. Studies have shown that this material is highly effective in accomplishing this task. In addition, the grafted material completely vanishes in less than a year and is replaced by your body's own bone structure. The material that is used for the bone graft has an extraordinary safety record. This bone material has been used in modern periodontics for over 30 years, in millions of cases, with not one case where any infection has been transmitted.