A clinical and histologic study of healing following the excisional new attachment procedure in rhesus monkeys.

Experimental suprabony periodontal pockets were established around the incisors of Rhesus monkeys and subsequently were treated by the Excisional New Attachment Procedure. Healing was evaluated clinically and histologically for up to 6 months. Clinical examinations demonstrated an overall mean pocket depth reduction from 5.02 mm to 2.82 mm, of which 0.57 mm was recession and 1.59 mm (73.6%) was clinical new attachment. Histologic evaluation of experimental sites consistently revealed a long, thin junctional epithelium with a minimal amount of inflammatory infiltrate in the subjacent, densely fibered, lamina propria. Control areas demonstrated the classic histologic picture of periodontal disease and tended to be progressive in nature clinically.