EFP guidance addresses aesthetics in periodontal care
Clinician and patient views need to be integrated into select interventions.
The European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) has published a landmark consensus report, Aesthetics and Patient-Reported Outcomes in Periodontology and Implant Dentistry.
The new guidance, published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, places a spotlight on aesthetics and the experiences of patients; factors that are increasingly shaping clinical decisions but have often been overlooked in both research and practice.
The report says: “Following treatments such as coronally advanced flaps (CAFs) with a connective tissue graft (CTG) for root coverage(RC), a positive correlation was noted between clinician-reported aesthetic scores and RC measures for GRDs.
“However, a corresponding correlation for patient-reported aesthetic perceptions was not evident. In dental implant procedures, the addition of a CTG immediately after implant placement significantly mitigated the apical shift in the mid-facial mucosal level. However, clinician and patient reported aesthetic scores were not reflective of these changes.
“Neither set of scores captured the impact of grafting on improving peri-implant soft-tissue volume. In the treatment of peri-implant dehiscences, soft-tissue augmentation (STA), using CTG beneath CAF, resulted in favourable outcomes in clinician and patient perceived aesthetics.”
The report concludes: “Clinician and patient views provide complementary perspectives for evidence-based clinical decision making. They need to be integrated into select interventions. Specific trials are needed encompassing PREs, PROs and CROs and reporting benefits and harms.”
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