title: Effect and timing of non-surgical treatment prior to periodontal regeneration: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this systematic review was to assess the study design and reporting of studies on periodontal regeneration, with respect to the effect of the provision of non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) before surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic search of the literature was conducted for studies on periodontal regeneration on Medline and EMBASE, complemented by a manual search. Initially, 3310 potentially eligible articles were identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 293 studies were included in the review. Nearly 10% of studies did not include NSPT in the study protocol before regenerative surgery, while 14% of papers did not report this aspect. Seventy-six percent of studies reported that non-surgical subgingival debridement was performed before periodontal surgery (2 weeks to 6 months before surgery according to the different studies). However, no papers reported clinical and radiographic data before and after NSPT prior to periodontal surgery. Only 45% of papers reported timing of reassessment following NSPT, prior to proceeding with regenerative surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review highlights the lack of reporting information on non-surgical periodontal therapy prior to periodontal regenerative surgery, calling for a revision of the current clinical protocols and of the study designs of periodontal regenerative surgery studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Periodontal regenerative surgery protocols should take into account the possible effects of non-surgical periodontal therapy in the clinical and radiographic healing of intrabony defects.
authors.affiliation: Periodontology Unit and Department of Clinical Research, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London, 256 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LD, UK. l.nibali@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nibali
authors.affiliation: Periodontology Unit and Department of Clinical Research, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London, 256 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LD, UK.|Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pelekos
authors.affiliation: Periodontology Unit and Department of Clinical Research, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London, 256 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LD, UK.
authors.forename: Olanrewaju
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Onabolu
authors.affiliation: Periodontology Unit and Department of Clinical Research, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London, 256 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LD, UK.
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Donos
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D012038:Regeneration; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Intrabony defects; Non-surgical therapy; Periodontitis; Regeneration; Study design