Rattu V, Raindi D, Antonoglou G, Nibali L. Prevalence of stable and successfully treated periodontitis subjects and incidence of subsequent tooth loss within supportive periodontal care: A systematic review with meta-analyses. J Clin Periodontol 2023; DOI: 10.1111/jcpe.13835.

An overwhelming majority do not achieve the proposed endpoints for periodontal stability, yet most periodontal patients preserve most of their teeth during an average of 10-13 years in SPC.

The study aimed to identify: i) the prevalence of meeting the endpoints of 'stable periodontitis' (probing pocket depth [PPD] ≤4 mm, bleeding on probing [BoP] <10%, no BoP at 4 mm sites), 'endpoints of therapy' (no PPD >4 mm with BoP, no PPD ≥6 mm), 'controlled periodontitis' (≤4 sites with PPD ≥5 mm), 'PPD <5 mm' and 'PPD <6 mm' at the start of supportive periodontal care [SPC]); and ii) the incidence of tooth loss in relation to not meeting these endpoints within a minimum of five years of SPC. Systematic electronic and manual searches were conducted and meta-analyses were carried out. Fifteen studies including 12,884 patients and 323,111 teeth were retrieved. Achievement of endpoints at baseline SPC was rare (1.35%, 11.00% and 34.62%, respectively, for 'stable periodontitis', 'endpoints of therapy' and 'controlled periodontitis'). Less than a third of the 1,190 subjects with five years of SPC data lost teeth - a total of 3.14% of all teeth were lost. Statistically significant associations with tooth loss, at the subject-level, were found for not achieving 'controlled periodontitis'.