Photodynamic Therapy In Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment: Literature Review

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) has been used as a new non invasive therapeutic approach for the treatment of bacterial, fungal and viral infections of the oral cavity. The results show that the use of laser as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal treatment favors repair and has proven action in pathogenic periodontal strains, but many studies show that its use does not bring additional benefits to the periodontal procedures. The present study aims to evaluate through a literature review the efficacy of photodynamic therapy in non-surgical periodontal therapy. Several therapeutic strategies, including mechanical instrumentation and local or systemic antibiotics have been proposed to treat residual pockets of patients undergoing periodontal maintenance. Thus, antimicrobial photodynamic therapy has emerged as a possibility of auxiliary treatment to basic periodontal treatment, mainly because it does not induce bacterial resistance, as well as not producing systemic and side effects. The use of PDT may prove to be an important treatment modality with minimal side effects as opposed to the use of, for example, antibiotics that prevent bacterial proliferation but also cause gastrointestinal effects that may harm the patient's health. In addition, although antibiotics are effective in reducing periodontal disease, there is increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics, which limits their use in this type of treatment. Laser can be used as an adjunct for non-surgical periodontal therapy, although there are not enough studies to consider the use of lasers as an alternative to conventional treatments. Bactericidal effects, the elimination of stone, the ability to remove plaque, the ability to sculpt soft and hard tissue, faster and more predictable repair of soft and hard tissue, make lasers a promising tool for non-periodontal treatment Surgical.