Working Group on Treatment Options for the Maintenance of Marginal Bone Around Endosseous Oral Implants, Stockholm, Sweden, 8 and 9 September 2011: Methodology

Purpose: To reach through intense interactions among a group of renowned experts a better view of the treatment options available for marginal bone maintenance and eventual inflammation and/ or loss around oral implants. The working group was intended to generate guidelines useful for the clinical community at large. Format: Two days of interactive presentations and discussions on the basis of review papers delivered beforehand by the participants. Each of the participants was asked to focus on a particular aspect of the global theme - maintenance of marginal bone around oral implants and treatment options - while keeping a global view for further discussion. From the prepared reviews only the conclusions were presented at the meeting as an introduction for the discussions. The reviews were distributed among all participants beforehand and, if needed, the other participants could draw the attention of the author on missing aspects and references prior to the meeting. A general consensus was formulated. The consensus was amended during the two days of the meeting until a unanimous opinion was reached. Minority statements could be considered. The review papers were not required to be systematic reviews (time and means were lacking) but they were to be valuable critical analyses considering the internationally recognised expertise of the authors.