Chitosan & chitosan derivative(eg. membrane) have been studied in periodontal regeneration, and recently many studies of chitosan have reported good results. If chitosan's effects on periodontal regeneration are enhanced, we can use chitosan in many clinical and experimental fields. For this purpose, this study reviewed available literatures, evaluated comparable experimental models.

Ten in vivo studies reporting chitosan's effects on periodontal tissue regeneration have been selected by use of the 'Pubmed' and hand searching.

1. In Sprague Dawley rat calvarial defect models, amount of newly formed bone in defects showed significant differences between chitosan/chitosan-carrier/chitosan-membrane groups and control groups.

2. In beagle canine 1-wall intrabony defect models, amount of new cementum and new bone showed significant differences between chitosan/chitosan-membrane groups and control groups.

The mean values of the above experimental groups were greater than the control groups.

The results of this study have demonstrated that periodontal regeneration procedure using chitosan have beneficial effects, which will be substitute for various periodontal regenerative treatment area. One step forward in manufacturing process of chitosan membrane and in use in combination with other effective materials(eg. bone graft material or carrier) may bring us many chances of common use of chitosan in various periodontal area.