title: Methodological Quality of Consensus Guidelines in Implant Dentistry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Consensus guidelines are useful to improve clinical decision making. Therefore, the methodological evaluation of these guidelines is of paramount importance. Low quality information may guide to inadequate or harmful clinical decisions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the methodological quality of consensus guidelines published in implant dentistry using a validated methodological instrument.
  
  
  METHODS
  The six implant dentistry journals with impact factors were scrutinised for consensus guidelines related to implant dentistry. Two assessors independently selected consensus guidelines, and four assessors independently evaluated their methodological quality using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument. Disagreements in the selection and evaluation of guidelines were resolved by consensus. First, the consensus guidelines were analysed alone. Then, systematic reviews conducted to support the guidelines were included in the analysis. Non-parametric statistics for dependent variables (Wilcoxon signed rank test) was used to compare both groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 258 initially retrieved articles, 27 consensus guidelines were selected. Median scores in four domains (applicability, rigour of development, stakeholder involvement, and editorial independence), expressed as percentages of maximum possible domain scores, were below 50% (median, 26%, 30.70%, 41.70%, and 41.70%, respectively). The consensus guidelines and consensus guidelines + systematic reviews data sets could be compared for 19 guidelines, and the results showed significant improvements in all domain scores (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Methodological improvement of consensus guidelines published in major implant dentistry journals is needed. The findings of the present study may help researchers to better develop consensus guidelines in implant dentistry, which will improve the quality and trust of information needed to make proper clinical decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology and Operative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Clovis Mariano
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Faggion
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Clinical Stomatology, Section of Integral Oral Implantology, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Apaza
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Clinical Stomatology, Section of Periodontology and Implants, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ariza-Fritas
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Clinical Stomatology, Section of Periodontology and Implants, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Lilian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Málaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Nikolaos Nikitas
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Giannakopoulos
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Clinical Stomatology, Section of Periodontology and Implants, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Marco Antonio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Alarcón
mesh_terms: D032921:Consensus; D015921:Dental Implants; D003813:Dentistry; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants