OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this systematic review was to appraise the existing literature on the effect of hard tissue defects on the clinical outcome of endodontic microsurgery (EMS).
METHODS: MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and grey literature were searched from January 2000 to May 2023. Study selection and data extraction were performed in duplicate. Eligible studies were critically appraised for the risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of bias tool. The quality of evidence was assessed using GRADE. Review Manager (RevMan Computer program Version 5.4, The Cochrane Collaboration, 2020) was utilized and the Mantel Haenszel fixed or random effects model was applied, depending on the heterogeneity of the studies. Meta-analysis was performed to estimate the Risk ratio (RR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CIs) to correlate the effects of these factors on treatment outcomes.
RESULTS: Nineteen studies were included. The EMS overall pooled success rate was 84.5%. Five characteristics of hard tissue were identified. The size of the lesion (Small ≤ 5 mm: 78.4% vs. Large > 5 mm: 63.3%, RR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.00-1.26, P ≤ .05), significantly affected the outcomes of EMS. Endodontic lesions exhibited slightly better outcomes than endodontic-periodontal lesions (81.4% vs. 68.2%, RR = 1.14 95% CI 0.98-1.33, P > .05). Cases with the height of the buccal bone > 3 mm also exhibited slightly better outcomes (91.5% vs. 71.4%, RR = 1.20, 95% CI 0.88-1.62, P > .05). Additionally, through and through lesions exhibited better outcomes when grafting was completed during the EMS procedure both in 2D (RR = 1.12 95% CI 0.97-1.29, P > .05) and 3D evaluation ((RR = 1.28 95% CI 0.69-2.37 P > .05). The overall quality of evidence was graded as low to high.
CONCLUSIONS: With a low to high quality of evidence, the size of the lesion is a key prognostic variable that significantly affects the outcome of EMS, as lesions ≤ 5 mm exhibit better outcomes as compared to larger lesions.
CONCLUSIONS: The presence of hard tissue defects can affect the outcome of endodontic microsurgery (EMS). The presented data can aid the clinicians\' decision-making process by examining certain pre-operative prognostic variables, when considering EMS as a treatment option. Clinical cases with more favorable hard tissue characteristics lead to a better prognosis in EMS.

BACKGROUND: To manage apical periodontitis in root filled maxillary and mandibular molars, root resection techniques may be employed to avoid the loss of the tooth.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the study were to systematically analyse the effectiveness of root resection techniques (root resection/crown resection/root amputation) for the management of apical periodontitis with non-surgical root canal retreatment or apical surgery by the evaluation of clinical and patient-related outcomes (PROMS), in human experimental studies and longitudinal studies.
METHODS: An electronic literature search in PubMed, MEDLINE via OVID interface, EMBASE and Cochrane Central, supplemented by a manual hand search of the grey literature, was performed up to 25th September 2021. Randomized controlled trials, comparative clinical trials and observational studies reporting on the outcome (tooth survival and patient-reported outcome measures with a minimum follow-up of 1 year) of root resection techniques for treating apical periodontitis were identified. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.
RESULTS: From a total of 2098 reports, 36 were considered for further screening. Three retrospective studies, published between 2018 and 2020, were included in this systematic review. A high heterogeneity in terms of protocols, study design and the reported outcomes were observed. The risk of bias was scored as low to moderate. These three studies consisted of data from 305 resected teeth, from 254 patients, with a follow-up period of 1-16.8 years. Overall, 151 teeth were extracted during the follow-up period. In these studies, root resection treatment was carried out on 42 teeth exclusively for endodontic reasons. One of these studies reported 12 out of 23 teeth lost at follow-up. None of the studies reported on PROMS.
CONCLUSIONS: Although root resection techniques may be used for treating teeth with apical periodontitis, the data are limited. Furthermore, the studies are very heterogeneous and associated with high risk of bias.
CONCLUSIONS: Given the current level of available evidence, it is not possible to recommend, or dismiss, root resection techniques for managing apical periodontitis.
BACKGROUND: PROSPERO database (CRD42021260306).

BACKGROUND: Evidence-informed decision-making in health care relies on the translation of research results to everyday clinical practice. A fundamental requirement is that the validity of any healthcare intervention must be supported by the resultant favourable treatment outcome. Unfortunately, differences in study design and the outcome measures evaluated often make it challenging to synthesize the available research evidence required for secondary research analysis and guideline development. Core outcome sets (COS) are defined as an agreed standardized set of outcomes, which should be measured and reported as a minimum in all clinical trials on a specific topic. The benefits of COS include less heterogeneity, a reduction in the risk of reporting bias and ensuring all trials contribute data to facilitate meta-analyses; given the engagement of key stakeholders, it also increases the chances that clinically relevant outcomes are identified. The recognition of the need for COS for assessing endodontic treatment outcomes leads to the development of Core Outcome Sets for Endodontic Treatment modalities (COSET) protocol, which is registered (No. 1879) on the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) website.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this scoping review are to: (1) identify the outcomes assessed in studies evaluating surgical endodontic procedures; (2) report on the method of assessment used to measure the outcomes; (3) and assess selective reporting bias in the included studies. The data obtained will be used to inform the development of COS for surgical endodontics.
METHODS: A structured literature search of electronic databases and the grey literature was conducted to identify systematic reviews on periradicular surgery (PS), intentional replantation (IR) and tooth/root resection (RR), published between January 1990 and December 2020. Two independent reviewers were involved in the literature selection, data extraction and the appraisal of the studies identified. The type of intervention, outcomes measured, type of outcomes reported (clinician- or patient-reported), outcome measurement method and follow-up period were recorded using a standardized form.
RESULTS: Twenty-six systematic reviews consisting of 19 studies for PS, three studies for IR and four studies for RR were selected for inclusion. Outcome measures identified for PS and IR included pain, swelling, mobility and tenderness, outcomes related to periodontal/soft tissue healing (including sinus tract), periradicular healing, tooth survival, life impact (including oral health-related quality of life), resource use and/or adverse effects. For RR, in addition to tooth survival, endodontic complications and adverse effects, the outcome measures were primarily periodontal-related, including pocket depth reduction, attachment gain, periodontal disease and periodontic-endodontic lesions. The majority of outcome measures for PS, IR and RR were assessed clinically, radiologically and/or via patient history. Specific tools such as rating scales (Visual Analog Scale, Verbal Rating Scale, Numerical Rating Scale and other scales) were used for the assessment of pain, swelling and tenderness, and validated questionnaires were used for the assessment of oral health-related quality of life. The range of follow-up periods was variable, dependent on the outcome measure and the type of intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: Outcome measures, method of assessment and follow-up periods for PS, IR and RR were identified and categorized to help standardize the reporting of outcomes for future research studies. Additional outcome measures that were not reported, but may be considered in the COSET consensus process, include loss of root-end filling material, number of clinic visits, surgery-related dental anxiety and mucogingival aesthetic-related measures, such as scarring, black triangles, root surface exposure and tissue discoloration.
BACKGROUND: COMET (No. 1879).

Adequate hemostasis is a critical step in endodontic surgery. It facilitates the procedure and affects the success and prognosis of the operation. This systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) aimed to systematically assess the efficacy of hemostatic agents in endodontic surgery and to identify the most effective ones.
PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ProQuest, and EBSCOhost databases were searched up to December 2020. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of different hemostatic measures in endodontic surgery, and their risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane\'s randomized trial tool (RoB 2.0). Frequentist network meta-analysis was conducted, with Odds Ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR, 95% CI) as effect estimates using the \"netmeta\" package in R. The quality of evidence was assessed using the CINeMA approach.
Six RCTs involving 353 patients (mean age 48.12 y) were included. NMA revealed that aluminum chloride achieved higher hemostatic efficacy than epinephrine (OR = 2.55, 95% CI [1.41, 4.64]), while there was non-significant difference when compared with PTFE strips + epinephrine (OR = 1.00, 95% CI [0.35, 2.90]), electrocauterization (OR = 2.67, 95% CI [0.84, 8.46]), or ferric sulfate (OR = 8.65, 95% CI [0.31, 240.92]). Of all hemostatic agents, aluminum chloride ranked first in control bleeding during endodontic surgery (P-score = 0.84), followed by PTFE strips + epinephrine (P-score = 0.80), electrocauterization (P-score = 0.34), epinephrine (P-score = 0.34), ferric sulfate (P-score = 0.18). The quality of evidence was very low.
Based on the limited data, aluminum chloride provides better hemostasis than epinephrine, while there was no significant difference between the remaining hemostatic agents used in endodontic surgery, which could help clinicians choose the hemostatic agent that achieves adequate hemostasis. achieve adequate hemostasis. Given insufficient evidence, future RCTs addressing this evidence gap are required.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review was undertaken to determine the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) before and after endodontic treatment.
METHODS: Based on the PRISMA guidelines, electronic databases (n = 7) were searched and from 1038 citations, 16 papers were included in this review. Information on study design, sample size, intervention/treatment modality, methods of assessing OHRQoL, and the key findings were extracted and analyzed.
RESULTS: Among the 16 studies, 3 were cross-sectional surveys, 9 were longitudinal studies, and 4 were randomized clinical trials. The cross-sectional studies reported improvements in OHRQoL following root canal treatment. Comparative longitudinal studies did not identify a significant association between improvements in OHRQoL and the method of root canal instrumentation or number of instruments used. Clinical trials found that improvements in OHRQoL were significantly associated with instrumentation technique, surgical-incision approach, and the application of platelet-concentrate during surgery. Several methods of assessing OHRQoL were employed with the most common being the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), albeit using different versions.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this systematic review indicate that the QoL of patients improved after endodontic treatment. Nevertheless, these results are limited to patients who seek endodontic treatment and cannot be generalized. The lack of well-designed observational studies with standardized assessment approaches, coupled with heterogeneity of study design and interventions, precluded quantitative synthesis.
CONCLUSIONS: Pragmatic clinical trials are more meaningful to understand patient-centered outcomes of treatment. This review shows that endodontic treatment does improve the QoL. However, future studies should use standardized tools and data reporting, which are critical to make meta-analyses possible.

In Surgical Endodontics we face complex situations that require the knowlflap and application of both principles of endodontics (cleansing shaping and filling) in the root management, and the principles of surgery (asepsis, non harmfulness and hemostasis) in the phase of access to the root. Among the factors of surgical relevance that for which have been proposed with the largest number of alternatives is the design of access flap. That clearly indicates that not only one flap design can be ideal in all clinical situations. In this article all proposed access flap designs are evaluated in the light of their degree of compliance with ideal requirements in different circumstances. A clear pattern in the decision-making criteria for the selection of access flaps is proposed.