A newly developed collagen/silicone bilayer membrane as a mucosal substitute: a preliminary report

A new bilayer membrane proved effective as a mucosal substitute. The membrane is composed of an outer layer of silicone and an inner layer of dehydrothermally cross linked composites of fibrillar and denatured collagen sponge. The membrane was placed on oral mucosal defects of five patients after operations for cancer. Ten to 14 days after application the outer silicone sheet was removed, leaving only the inner collagen sponge layer into which cellular tufts of fibroblasts and capillaries had infiltrated. The infiltrated collagen matrix became a new connective tissue that epithelialised rapidly by migration of peripheral epithelium 4–5 weeks after application. In all cases the postoperative course was unremarkable and the repair was effective.