JCP editor highlights latest research

Panos N. Papapanou, editor-in-chief of the EFP's Journal of Clinical Periodontology, offers his "editor's pick" of recent papers published in the journal, covering periodontal plastic surgery, sub-epithelial connective-tissue grafts, and the relationship between periodontitis stage and grade and the risk of relapse.

Let me take the opportunity to wish all Perio Insight readers a happy, healthy, and productive 2024, and to assure you that the Journal of Clinical Periodontology remains committed to bringing to you research advances in our field that will inform your clinical decision-making in an evidence-based manner.

So let me kick off the year by suggesting some “Editor’s picks” that I hope you will find stimulating and informative.

The first one is a Guest Editorial in the December 2023 issue by GiovanPaolo Pini Prato and Richard Di Gianfilippo that provides an interesting perspective on the development of periodontal plastic surgery over the past decades. If you find these clinical procedures thrilling, challenging, and rewarding at the same time – as I do – this text will offer you a vivid summary of the advances in surgical techniques that have led to the predictable aesthetic outcomes that our patients increasingly expect.

Along the same lines, a longitudinal case series in the January 2024 issue reports on the stability of root-coverage outcomes achieved  by the use of sub-epithelial connective-tissue grafts over a follow-up time of up to three decades, and on factors associated with more and less successful clinical outcomes.

Finally, an interesting analysis published in the February issue exemplifies how stage and grade in the current classification of periodontitis relates to the risk of relapse and disease progression during supportive periodontal care.

Happy reading!