New progress in the clinical application of GBR membrane materials

Guided bone regeneration (GBR) barrier membranes are of great significance for the reconstruction of the health and function of different periodontal tissues. Biocompatibility, spatial maintenance, closure, controllability and biological activation are the main criteria that should be met by these membranes. Artificial barrier membrane biomaterials can be divided into synthetic polymer materials, natural polymer materials and metals. According to their degradation characteristics, these membranes can be divided into two categories, absorbable and nonabsorbable membranes. GBR used for horizontal bone increments can be used to treat various types of bone defects, including the treatment of bone fenestration and bone cracking. The use of a non-absorbable e-PTFE membrane or absorbable collagen membrane can achieve the expected effect. However, for incremental or vertical bone growth at the alveolar crest, the use of this membrane is very challenging and requires good strength to maintain the osteogenic space. This space can be enhanced with e-PTFE or d-PTFE membranes with stable morphology, or absorbable membranes can be covered with titanium plates or meshes to achieve vertical bone increments. Currently, bioactive membranes, digital 3D-printed titanium membranes and piezoelectric active biological membranes are research hotspots. In future research, the biological activation of these membranes will be further improved, which will promote the development of artificial membranes in the next stage.