Root Surface Biomodification: Methods and Agents.

Root surface biomodification has been used to treat gingival recession and periodontitis. For example, to improve treatment efficacy of gingival recessions (GR), chemical preparation of the exposed root surface is advocated. The principle for this procedure is to remove the smear layer from the root surfaces, which leads to exposition of surface collagen fibers and improved healing. The aim of present article is to evaluate the importance of root surface biomodification after scaling and root planing (SRP) and a comparative review of various root conditioning agents. The review was written during the search for English-language literature in the Google Scholar and PubMed databases. 104 literary sources were identified during the literature review. After excluding publications that did not meet the inclusion search criteria, the total number of included articles has become 55. The instrumented root surface is always covered by a smear layer, containing remnants of dental calculus, contaminated root cementum, bacterial endotoxin and subgingival plaque after the scaling and root planning procedure. The root conditioning agents, described in this study, were found to be effective in the removal of the smear layer, able to produce uncovering and widening the dentin tubules, and unmasking the dentin collagen matrix. Within the limits of this study, the most frequently used conditioning agents are tetracycline, EDTA, and citric acid; among them Tetracycline HCL is the most reliable agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]