title: Regenerative endodontic therapy: a data analysis of clinical protocols.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the present study was to systematically analyze the protocols that have been used in regenerative endodontic therapy and to detect any variations in clinical procedures.
  
  
  METHODS
  An electronic search was executed in PubMed using appropriate Medical Subject Heading terms covering the period from January 1993 to May 2014. Additional publications from hand searching and the reference section of each relevant article enriched the article list. The relevance of each article was initially evaluated by scanning all titles and corresponding abstracts. The definite inclusion of each article in the study was determined by using specific criteria applied independently by 3 reviewers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty relevant publications were finally included. The canal walls were not mechanically instrumented in 68% of the clinical articles. Sodium hypochlorite was included in 97% of the clinical studies either as the only irrigant or in combination with other irrigants. Antibiotic combination paste was used as the intracanal medicament in 80% of the clinical articles. Sodium hypochlorite, chlorhexidine, and EDTA were used in the final irrigation protocol in 75%, 4%, and 13% of the clinical studies, respectively. Neither the creation of a blood clot nor the use of platelet-rich plasma/platelet-rich fibrin was described in 13% of the clinical articles. Mineral trioxide aggregate was used as an intracanal coronal barrier in 85% of the relevant clinical studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The variability of the clinical protocols applied during regenerative enododontic procedures is considerably high. A thorough analysis of regenerative protocols may constitute an additional source to provide useful clinical considerations for REPs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Dental School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: ekontak@dent.uoa.gr.
authors.forename: Evangelos G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Kontakiotis
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Dental School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Christos G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Filippatos
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Dental School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Giorgos N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Tzanetakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Dental School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agrafioti
mesh_terms: D017607:Aluminum Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017610:Calcium Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D004338:Drug Combinations; D006801:Humans; D010087:Oxides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D053657:Platelet-Rich Plasma; D044968:Regenerative Medicine; D012388:Root Canal Irrigants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018915:Root Canal Preparation / Q000379:methods; D017640:Silicates / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012973:Sodium Hypochlorite / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019553:Tooth, Nonvital / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D017607:Aluminum Compounds; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D017610:Calcium Compounds; D004338:Drug Combinations; D010087:Oxides; D012388:Root Canal Irrigants; D017640:Silicates; C086631:mineral trioxide aggregate; D012973:Sodium Hypochlorite; D002710:Chlorhexidine
keywords: Blood clot; mineral trioxide aggregate; regenerative endodontics; triple antibiotic paste