The effect of periodontal therapy on the survival rate and incidence of complications of multirooted teeth with furcation involvement after an observation period of at least 5 years: a systematic review.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically review the survival rate and incidence of complications of furcation-involved multirooted teeth following periodontal therapy after at least 5 years.


METHODS
Electronic and manual searches were performed up to and including January 2008. Publication selection, data extraction and validity assessment were performed independently by three reviewers.


RESULTS
Twenty-two publications met the inclusion criteria. Because of the heterogeneity of the data, a meta-analysis could not be performed. The survival rate of molars treated non-surgically was >90% after 5-9 years. The corresponding values for the different surgical procedures were: Surgical therapy: 43.1% to 96%, observation period: 5-53 years. Tunnelling procedures: 42.9% to 92.9%, observation period: 5-8 years. Surgical resective procedures including amputation(s) and hemisections: 62% to 100%, observation period: 5-13 years. Guided tissue regeneration (GTR): 83.3% to 100%, observation period: 5-12 years. The most frequent complications included caries in the furcation area after tunnelling procedures and root fractures after root-resective procedures.


CONCLUSIONS
Good long-term survival rates (up to 100%) of multirooted teeth with furcation involvement were obtained following various therapeutic approaches. Initial furcation involvement (Degree I) could be successfully managed by non-surgical mechanical debridement. Vertical root fractures and endodontic failures were the most frequent complications observed following resective procedures.
Huynh-Ba
Guy
G
Division of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Kuonen
Patrick
P
Hofer
Dominik
D
Schmid
Jürg
J
Lang
Niklaus P
NP
Salvi
Giovanni E
GE
D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D012534:Dental Scaling; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017823:Furcation Defects / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D016557:Guided Tissue Regeneration, Periodontal / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects; D017213:Root Caries / Q000209:etiology; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000209:etiology; D016388:Tooth Loss; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000601:surgery