Bioactive glass for periodontal defects

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This review aimed to assess the effect of bioactive glass on bone and periodontal regeneration and included 20 RCTs. The included studies were small, involved numerous comparisions with only two being at low risk of bias. The findings showed a statistically signiciant benefit for probing depth with bioglass but this may not be clinically significant and the limited quality of thei included studies mean the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

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Peri-implantitis – Surgical treatment with or without adjunctive graft material

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This review of the surgical treatment of peri-implantitis alone or in combination with adjunctive graft material included 5 small RCTs. The findings suggest improvements in marginal bone level (MBL) with graft material but the findings should be interpreted very cautiously because of the limited amount and quality of the evidence.

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The efficacy of periodontal regenerative therapies, more challenges with network meta-analysis

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Mark-Steven Howe takes a detailed look at this review update and network meta-analyses of periodontal regenerative therapies. He highlights the inclusion of non-resorbable membrane studies that are no longer used.

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Direct pulp capping in primary teeth

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This review of direct pulp capping in vital primary teeth included 12 RCTs testing 16 different pulp capping agents. Interpretation of the available data is limited as few trials comparign the same agents and the quality of the trials is low.

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Alveolar ridge preservation: which grafting material?

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This review of grafting materials for alveolar ridge preservation included 38 small RCTs. 34 different materials were investigated with the findings suggesting that no grafting material increased new bone formation between 3 and 6 months after tooth extraction.

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Periodontal infrabony defects: does autologous platelet concentrates (APC) improve surgical outcomes

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38 RCTs were included in this Cochrane review of the effects of autologous platelet concentrates (APC) used as an adjunct to periodontal surgery. Very low quality evidence was found for two approaches involving open flap debridement.

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Gingival recession: which surgical treatment technique?

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This Cochrane review of the efficacy of different root coverage procedures for gingival recession included 48 RCTs describing a range of procedures. Most procedures led to a reduction in gingival recession.

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Intrabony periodontal defects – does combining bone substitutes and enamel matrix derivatives improve outcomes?

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This review of combining bone substitutes and enamel matrix derivatives for the management of intrabony periodontal defects only identified 5 small RCTs of limited quality. The addition of EMD to bony substitutes was not seen to be beneficial but the results should be interpreted cautiously due to limitations in the available evidence.

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Periodontal regeneration therapies: Are benefits long-term?

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This review of periodontal regeneration therapies included 52 trials. While the results suggest some statistically significant improvements they may not be clinically important. There is also limited data for outcomes longer than 12 months.

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Lasers for surgical periodontal treatment – insufficient evidence of effectiveness

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Eight small trials were identified for this review of lasers as an adjunct to surgical periodontal treatment. The limited number of studies and variation in the types of lasers used means there is insufficient evidence to support their effectiveness.

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