Regenerative Endodontic Procedures: An Umbrella Review.

Area of Science:

• Endodontics
• Regenerative Medicine
• Dental Research

Background:

• Regenerative Endodontic Procedure (REP) is a biologically based treatment for damaged pulp-dentin complex.
• REP seeks to replace damaged tissue with new, vital tissue.
• Assessing the quality of existing evidence on REP is crucial for clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate the methodological quality of existing systematic reviews (SRs) on Regenerative Endodontic Procedures (REP).
• To assess the quality of evidence concerning REP protocols and outcomes.
• To identify research gaps and guide future high-standard studies in REP.

Main Methods:

• An umbrella review methodology was employed.
• A comprehensive electronic database search was performed across multiple scientific databases.
• The Measurement Tool to Assess SRs criteria 2 (AMSTAR2) was used to evaluate the Risk of Bias (RoB) of included SRs.

Main Results:

• Out of 403 initial entries, 29 systematic reviews (SRs) met the inclusion criteria.
• The majority of included SRs demonstrated suboptimal methodological quality: 10 were critically low, 3 were low, and 14 were moderate.
• Only 2 SRs were rated as high quality, indicating a significant limitation in the current evidence base for REP.

Conclusions:

• The overall quality of evidence from existing systematic reviews on Regenerative Endodontic Procedures is not favorable.
• There is a critical need for future high-standard systematic reviews and well-designed clinical trials.
• Improved research is essential to better clarify clinical protocols and outcomes associated with REP.