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Table 9 Outcomes and consequences of contacting authors of eligible studies

From: Insertion torque recordings for the diagnosis of contact between orthodontic mini-implants and dental roots: a systematic review

Author

Number of contacting attemptsa

Willingness of authors to reply

Number of research questions answered

Additional research data provided by the contacted authors and its consequences

Motoyoshi et al. [6]

5 attempts

Unclear

0 of 6 questions

• No additional research data were provided.

• No consequences for the risk of bias scores were therefore assigned.

Chen et al. [84]

3 attempts

Yes

1 of 1 question

• Outcome assessors were blinded. This information changed the risk of bias score for the domain ‘Bias in measurement of outcomes’ from ‘No information’ to ‘Low’ risk of bias.

Brisceno et al. [25]

7 attempts

Yes

6 of 6 questions

• Insertion torque was measured at complete insertion of the 8 mm implant length. This information was not sufficient to lower the risk of bias score for the domain ‘Bias in measurements of interventions’.

• Personnel and outcome assessors were not blinded. This information changed the risk of bias score for the domain ‘Bias in measurement of outcomes’ from ‘No information’ to ‘Serious’ risk of bias.

• The sample consisted of 23 implants with and 23 without root contact. This information changed the risk of bias score for the domain ‘Bias due to missing data’ from ‘Serious’ risk to ‘Moderate’ risk of bias. This information also permitted the calculation of various statistics and list them in a forest plot.

Wilmes et al. [33]

5 attempts

Yes

2 of 6 questions

• Animals were 8–10 months old. Most of our questions were not answered by the contacted authors and no consequences were therefore applied.

McEwan [32]

2 attempts

Yes

7 of 7 questions

• Animals were approximately the same age. Different screw types were randomly assigned to the mandibles. This information changed the risk of bias score for the domain ‘Bias due to confounding’ from ‘Moderate’ to ‘Low’ risk of bias.

• Outcome assessors and personnel were not blinded. This information changed the risk of bias score for the domain ‘Bias in measurement of outcomes’ from ‘No information’ to ‘Serious’ risk of bias.

  1. aThis number refers to the total number of attempts by email to get an answer from a contacted author
  2. This number also includes the number of attempts to contact a co-author(s). An initial attempt or a subsequent reminder attempt was each counted as one attempt. As soon as authors replied, successive emails were not counted as additional attempts. Ideally, only two attempts are made: (1) the email to request the ‘willingness to reply’ and (2) the email to get additional data from the contacted authors
  3. Attempts of sending emails from other email addresses were not counted as additional attempts. Sending such emails could at times be indicated because our initial email could be identified as ‘spam mail’ and could then be deleted by the receiving internet provider