EFP clinical practice guide for periodontitis therapy presented and explained at Spanish symposium

The EFP S3-level clinical practice guideline for treating periodontitis was the subject of a one-day online symposium held by the Spanish Society of Periodontology and Osseointegration (SEPA) on November 6.

The symposium featured presentations from international and Spanish experts, including several who were involved in the creation of these first formal evidence-based guidelines for treating periodontitis.

The two-part symposium featured in the morning the presentation of the EFP guideline and in the afternoon there was a presentation of the process of adapting it for use in Spain along with four case studies illustrating its practical application by clinicians.

Like the British and German perio societies, SEPA has worked at the national level to adapt the guidelines to the Spanish context, a process known as “adolopment” (see Perio Insight No. 13, page 7)).

In the morning session, Treatment of stage I-III periodontitis – The EFP S3-level clinical practice guideline was presented by speakers including three former EFP presidents (Filippo Graziani, Anton Sculean, and Mariano Sanz) as well as by the current chair and co-chair of the federation’s workshop committee (David Herrera and Prof Sanz).

Mariano Sanz got proceedings under way explaining the reasons behind the creation of the clinical practice guide, which provides a step-by-step approach to periodontal therapy. There were then a series of presentations on the four steps set out in the guideline.

• Step 1 was introduced by David Herrera who then explained the recommendations on behavioural change and risk-factor control.
• Step 2 was introduced by Mariano Sanz, followed by presentations on specific therapies: Filippo Graziani on subgingival instrumentation, Giovanni Salvi on alternative methods for subgingival instrumentation, and Paula Matasanz on adjunctive therapies.
• Step 3, starting with a re-evaluation of the first two steps, was introduced by Prof Sanz, who was followed by Ignacio Sanz-Sánchez on access-flap surgery, Luigi Nibali on resective surgery, and Anton Sculean on regenerative surgery.
• Step 4, which involves long-term supportive periodontal care, was introduced by Prof Herrera, who was followed by Luca Landi on professional interventions and Elena Figuero on patient-based supragingival biofilm control.

The session concluded with a summing up Mariano Sanz and David Herrera of the goals of periodontal therapy.

Adapting the guide

The afternoon session – “Adapting the Clinical Practice Guideline: Application of the recommendations in day-to-day practice” – was presented by Ana Molina and Paula Matesanz (SEPA secretary general and junior member of the EFP’s European projects committee).

It started with a video presentation explaining the adaption process and how it was done and then moved onto four case studies, which explained the application of the guideline to different illustrative cases of patients with periodontitis in stages I, II, and III.

These cases were presented by former EFP president Juan Blanco, along with Eduardo Montero, Silvia Roldán, and José Nart.

“The clinical practice guideline is a landmark of recent months of work at SEPA, in which the efforts of great clinicians, researchers, and institutions were concentrated to develop this guide, which has no precedent in dentistry,” said SEPA president Antonio Bujaldón.

According to the Spanish perio society, the symposium both helped clear up possible doubts that could hinder the goal of integrating the guideline into daily clinical practice and showed on how to apply several of its recommendations, “guiding what the adaptation process should be from ‘old practices’ to current ones.”

The Spanish adaptation of the clinical practice guide can be downloaded from the SEPA website ­– https://www.sepa.es/web_update/login-guia/ ­– while the original documents can be read in the open-access supplement devoted to the guideline published in the EFP’s Journal of Clinical Periodontology in July.

The symposium was one of the key events in Sepa OnAir 2020, an ambitious virtual congress which features lectures and symposium running from mid-September to early December.