Abstract

Aim: The aim of this research was to describe the clinical protocols used for regenerative endodontic therapy through a systematic review of animal and clinical studies. Materials and methods: A systematic review was performed using the MEDLINE, Scopus, Cochrane Library, SciELO, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and EMBASE databases. Study search and selection was performed by two independent researchers. Animal and clinical studies in which regenerative endodontic therapy was performed on immature necrotic teeth were included. Only prospec- tive studies (with comparative design or case series), with a sample size of 10 or more teeth were included. Results: Twenty-three articles were included in this review. All clinical studies used sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) as a root ca- nal irrigant, although concentrations varied from 1% to 6%. Chlorhexidine, saline, sodium thiosulfate and hydrogen peroxide were also used in some studies. For intracanal dressing, nine out of eleven studies used a triple antibiotic paste (TAP), although time of application varied from 2 to 6 weeks. Use of EDTA was reported by two clinical studies only. Animal studies used mostly NaOCl for irrigation, at concentrations of 1.25% to 5.25%, and intracanal dress- ing was mainly a mixture of metronidazole, ciprofloxacin and minocycline, for variable periods of time. Conclusions: Most of the studies did not follow a standard clinical protocol for regenerative endodontic therapy.