Oral wound healing concepts in periodontology.

The goal of periodontal treatments is the complete restoration of the structure and function of damaged periodontal tissues. Although it is very difficult to attain this goal, recent advances in periodontal wound healing concepts encourage hope of reaching it. Through reconsideration of the general concepts of wound healing and a review of the key and current literature on periodontal tissue regeneration, it is currently promised that this goal will be accomplished possibly by 1) spontaneous inherent tissue regeneration elicited by the elimination of causal factors; 2) guided tissue regeneration by the selective guidance of periodontal ligament cell proliferation; and 3) inductive tissue regeneration through recent advances in cellular biology.