Plasma of Argon Treatment of the Implant Surface, Systematic Review of In Vitro Studies

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for the opportunity review this interesting Article.

Just some comments and suggestions below

Line 47 typo? This particles should read These Particles

Line 52 Showed>> Have shown

Line 72  Papers

Line 130 “as there was variation with regard to the methods between various papers as well as differences in the measurement of outcomes”

138-140  This sentence needs clarification in order to make sense

148 “The assumption of this technique is based simply upon: That by increasing”

167 The use of PoA in this short form should be referred earlier in the text and then used consistently throughout the text from there on.

176 Sample size appears formally sufficient? Justify this statement or clarify it

189-192 Again re word to make sense

229,222, 231 again use of PoA

263 Conclusion: There are major limitations of the studies reviewed for using the term valid method rather than probable method?

Author Response

Dear reviewer 1, we thank you for your careful review. We used track changes function from Microsoft Word to keep track of all changes that we have performed in accordance to your suggestions.

Reviewer: Line 47 typo? This particles should read These Particles

Authors: Thanks for your careful review, we performed the correction in the text (line 47)

Reviewer: Line 52 Showed>> Have shown

Authors:  we performed the correction in the text (line 52)

Reviewer: Line 72  Papers

Authors:  we performed the correction in the text 

Reviewer: Line 130 “as there was variation with regard to the methods between various papers as well as differences in the measurement of outcomes”

Authors:  we performed the correction in the text. We report the text here for your convenience

“As there was variation with regard to the methods between various papers as well as differences in the measurement of outcomes, it was impossible to perform any quantitative synthesis of the studies”

Reviewer: 138-140  This sentence needs clarification in order to make sense

Authors:  we rephrased the sentence according to your suggestion. We report the text here for your convenience

“Even though no conclusive evidence could be drawn because of heterogeneity is-sues, it appears that all the studies taken into consideration conclude that PoA treat-ment is capable to increase surface free energy of the treated surface. However, the duration of its effects appears to be limited in time.”

Reviewer: 148 “The assumption of this technique is based simply upon: That by increasing”

Authors:  we performed the correction in the text according to your suggestion. We report the text here for your convenience

“The assumption this technique is based simply upon that by increasing the surface energy of a given fixture it is possible to increase its wettability and consequently to enhance cell adhesion, as a key preliminary phase leading the osseointegration”

Reviewer: 167 The use of PoA in this short form should be referred earlier in the text and then used consistently throughout the text from there on.

Authors:  we explain the acronym at the beginning of the abstract and of the main text and then we have used the acronym alone throughout the text. Thank you! 

Reviewer: 176 Sample size appears formally sufficient? Justify this statement or clarify it

Authors:  we decided to delete the sentence in order not to make confusion in the text. Thank you for your suggestion 

Reviewer: 189-192 Again re word to make sense

Authors: Thank you, we rephrased the sentence as suggested. Please check and let us know. We report the text here for your convenience

“The different surfaces treated with PoA showed different mitochondrial activity: grade IV titanium treated with PoA showed higher values compared with controls, grade V titanium showed instead the highest mitochondrial activity in non-treated samples”

Reviewer: 229,222, 231 again use of PoA

Authors: We make the amendendments regarding this issue throughout the whole text as per your suggestion. Thank you

Reviewer: 263 Conclusion: There are major limitations of the studies reviewed for using the term valid method rather than probable method?

Authors: We had mitigates this statements by saying "seems to" but we agree with you that it might be better to mitigate this concept even further so we rephrased the whole sentence."Within the limitations of this systematic review, even though the quality of most manuscript is in some cases low, most of them state that PoA seems to be a probable method to promote cell adhesion and protein adsorption, especially in the earliest time (hours). ". Thank you again

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper is very interesting and can be considered for publication 

However, before acceptance, some topics need to be addressed

1) What about plasma argon treatment in implants placed in regenerated bone (e.g. sinus lift) of tilted sites? Can be it an aid? Please discuss and cite DOI10.3390/app12136729

2) Can such treatment diminish bacterial contamination, in particular if used with innovative air depuration system, also in the light of covid19 pandemic? Please cite PubMed ID35564533

3) How you can consider potential clinical outcomes in a prosthodontics score like DOI10.23805/JO.2018.10.04.04? Can such treatment improve clinical outcomes. Please discuss and cite

Author Response

Reviewer 2-issue 1: What about plasma argon treatment in implants placed in regenerated bone (e.g. sinus lift) of tilted sites? Can be it an aid? Please discuss and cite DOI10.3390/app12136729

Authors' response: This paper may be of interest, even though it does not specifically deal with the issue of the review.

We included it in the reference list according to your suggestion (reference 4)

Reviewer 2-issue 2: Can such treatment diminish bacterial contamination, in particular if used with innovative air depuration system, also in the light of covid19 pandemic? Please cite PubMed ID35564533

Authiors' response: Dear reviewer the reference that you talk about deals with the usage of an air purifier device with HEPA 14 filter during dental procedures. This paper has nothing to do with our research topic. Maybe you have transcribed the wrong number in the Pubmed ID. If you want we can discuss another paper that has a closer topic to the one that is the focus of the present review.

Reviewer 2-issue 3: How you can consider potential clinical outcomes in a prosthodontics score like DOI10.23805/JO.2018.10.04.04? Can such treatment improve clinical outcomes. Please discuss and cite

Authors' response: Please check the digital object identifier. The article that you are telling us to include is off topic. We quote from the text of the article: "The aim of this prospective clinical trial was to analyze, using the Functional Implant Prosthodontic Score (FIPS), the clinical results of three different abutment-implant connections". This topic has nothing to do with our in vitro review, we cannot include it in our reference list. Thank you