Periodontal Microsurgery: Evolution or Revolution

Periodontal microsurgery is the natural transition from conventional surgical principles to a surgical ethic in which the microscope is employed to permit more accurate and atraumatic handling tissues to enhance wound healing. Viewing periodontal surgery under magnification cannot help but impress the periodontal surgeon with the coarseness of conventional surgical manipulation. Periodontists have always attempted to treat the surgical site atraumatically and to achieve primary wound closure. However, the limits of normal vision dictate the extent to which this goal was possible. Microsurgery is a treatment philosophy whose clinical horizons will continue to improve with operator experience and willingness, yet there is also a relatively long learning curve to becoming proficient in microsurgery.