this study provides evidence that periodontal treatment contributes to improved glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Larger controlled trials are needed to confirm if this finding is generalizable to other populations of patients with type 2 diabetes.

Effective non-surgical periodontal treatment of participants with type 2 DM and moderate to severe periodontal disease improved significantly A1c levels but did not result in a statistically significant improvement in hsCRP, d-8-iso, MMP-2, and MMP-9 levels.

The increased use of dental implants and related bone-augmentation procedures creates a need for reliable proof-of-principle preclinical models for evaluating different bone-regenerative techniques. The simulation of clinical scenarios by such models is of importance when the experiments are designed in order for the outcomes to provide basic points of clinical relevance. At the same time, the increased proportion of the population with different chronic diseases of ageing necessitates the need to reproduce these conditions in the same proof-of-principle preclinical models to allow evaluation of the effect of the relevant chronic disease on the bone-healing process. This review presents a number of 'proof-of-principle' preclinical models in health and in chronic systemic conditions in which the guided bone regeneration principle was evaluated.

Regeneration of periodontal structures lost during periodontal diseases constitutes a complex biological process regulated among others by interactions between cells and growth factors. Growth factors are biologically active polypeptides affecting the proliferation, chemotaxis and differentiation of cells from epithelium, bone and connective tissue. They express their action by binding to specific cell-surface receptors present on various target cells including osteoblasts, cementoblasts and periodontal ligament fibroblasts. The observation that growth factors participate in all cell functions led to exogenous application during periodontal tissue repair aiming to their use as an alternative therapeutic approach to periodontal therapy. Cell types and cultures conditions, dose, carrier materials, application requirements are of critical importance in the outcome of periodontal repair. The purpose of this article is to review the literature with respect to the biological actions of PDGF, TGF, FGF, IGF and EGF on periodontal cells and tissues, which are involved in periodontal regeneration.

Methodological and study design issues restricted the possibility to draw robust conclusions. Within the limits of this review, it might be concluded that there is no obvious association between specific genetic polymorphism and dental implant failure in terms of biological complications, although a tendency should be underlined showing the potential link between IL-1 genotype and peri-implantitis. Well designed and adequately powered prospective cohort studies are needed to provide further information.

Bone and tooth loss, as a result of trauma, anatomical or congenital reasons, cancer, and periodontal disease, is a common therapeutic problem in the fields of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery and periodontics. The proposed techniques for the treatment of various bone defects encountered include bone grafts, bone substitutes, guided tissue regeneration, and distraction osteogenesis as well as their combinations. In addition, dental implants have been successfully utilized for the restoration of full or partial edentulism. The introduction and development of new therapeutic approaches and devices demand the use of appropriate animal models that present bone anatomy and healing comparable to human. Among other animal models, the pig is extensively documented in several biomedical areas and has been largely used in maxillo-facial surgery and implants dentistry-related research. Anatomical and physiological similarities with human in size, physiology, and bone biology contribute to a successful involvement of this animal to understand and treat various osseous lesions. However, improvements and standardization are requested with respect to consistency and discrimination abilities. The aim of this review is to provide a critical appraisal of the literature related to swine models for the evaluation of cranio-maxillo-facial osseous defect healing, regeneration, and bone-implant interface. This review should assist researchers in the field to select the most appropriate model for each dedicated purpose and also contribute to stimulate an innovative thinking on the use of porcine models.

Aim This review critically appraises the available knowledge on the pre‐clinical and clinical use of bioactive factors for bone regeneration in the cranial and maxillofacial area. Materials and Methods The use of growth factors, amelogenins and autologous platelet concentrates (APCs) for bone regeneration was reviewed in a systematic manner. More specifically, pre‐clinical and clinical studies on ridge preservation, alveolar ridge augmentation, regeneration of peri‐implant defects and sinus augmentation models were considered. Results Amongst different bioactive factors, the highest pre‐clinical and clinical evidence of a positive effect on bone formation is associated with rhBMP‐2 and the lowest with amelogenins. While APCs seem to accelerate clinical healing and reduce postoperative discomfort, there is insufficient and contrasting evidence of a significant effect on hard tissue regeneration for the different clinical applications. Conclusions Although there is increasing evidence that bioactive factors might enhance the bone regeneration process, the great heterogeneity of the available studies and the limited number of RCTs do not allow to draw robust conclusions. Issues that still need to be investigated include the optimal carriers for bioactive agents (direct vs. indirect), the dosage, the timing of administration, as well as the possibility of combining different agents to promote synergistic effects.

Establishment of periodontal health and regeneration of the lost periodontal tissues are always the ultimate goal of periodontal treatment. The development of new therapeutic approaches raises the necessity for appropriate experimental models that present periodontal structures and healing capability comparable to humans. Preclinical research and extrapolation of the data to human conditions remains a stage of great importance before the clinical application of the new biomaterials and techniques. Periodontal pockets/defects in preclinical models can be induced experimentally through acute or chronic or a combination of both (induced) modalities. The features of the created defects and those of humans vary greatly mostly due to the nature of the periodontal disease. This is an important point to take into account, since it is well recognized that the potential of periodontal therapy may be dependent on both the biological background and the defect morphology. This review provides insight into the commonly used preclinical models for the reproduction of the periodontal pocket and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each model in terms of similarity to human conditions, standardization and reproducibility.