A clinical observation of photodynamic therapy as an adjunctive to scaling and root planing in treatment of severe chronic periodontitis

Objective To compare the efficacy between photodynamic therapy( PDT) as an adjunctive treatment of severe chronic periodontitis with scaling and root planing in patients and treatment of SRP. Methods This is a split-mouth,randomized controlled clinical trial. A total of 300 sites,in which probing depth was not less than 7 mm,were selected from 34 patients with severe chronic periodontitis. These sites were randomly assigned to SRP plus PDT using a laser source with a wavelength of 660 nm associated with 26. 7 mmol·L1 methylene blue as the photosensitizer after SRP( test group) and the contra-lateral teeth were assigned to SRP only( control group). Probing depth( PD) and bleeding on probing( BOP) were recorded at baseline,1 and 3 months after SRP. Results There was no statistically significant difference in PD and BOP before periodontal treatment in both groups( P 0. 05). Clinical parameters improved significantly after both therapies,whereas higher reduction of PD and BOP were observed in the test group 1 and 3 months after SRP( P 0. 05). Conclusions Photodynamic therapy has an additional benefit to scaling and root planing when treating patients affected with severe chronic periodontitis.