Objectives: In the past, several attempts were made to improve the effect of antimicrobial therapy in periodontitis patients by supressing of periodontopathogenic bacteria. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a new approach may possibly be an alternative procedure to the conventional therapeutic methods.

Methods: The PDT procedure was performed on 7 beagle dogs (14 test sites, 35 control sites, group1/laser; group2/without treatment) using the photosensitizer BLC2003 and a Ceralas diode laser (532nm, 0.4W). All dogs were infected with P. gingivalis (P.g.) and F. nucleatum (F.n.). The infection included all subgingival areas, tongue and vestibulum. The PDT was not started before a steady state of infection had been established. We documented clinically distinct signs of redness and of bleeding on probing (BOP). Microbiological checks were made using the method of colony forming units (CFU). The PDT procedure was conducted with a Ceralas diode laser 532nm (Ceram Optec, Bonn) and it was applied to the crevicular region, the tongue and the vestibulum for 6 min twice a day over a period of 5 days.

Results: The PDT using the photosensitizer BLC2003 caused an evident reduction of the clinical inflammation signs (redness, BOP) and a significantly reduction of colony forming units by log factor 4.7 for the mixed P.g.-F.n.-population in comparison to the lased controls (group 1, (p<0.05). Furthermore, we observed in control group 2 (no PDT component) an increased bacterial settlement.

Conclusions: It was shown that the photodynamic therapy is advantageous for reducing inflammation signs and suppressing periodontopathogenic bacteria. PDT could be a suitable treating procedure of periodontal infections in the future.

Back to the Periodontal Research - Therapy Program
Back to the IADR/AADR/CADR 82nd General Session (March 10-13, 2004)

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