Photodynamic therapy as an adjunctive method for scaling and root planing in the treatment of mild to moderate periodontitis

AIM: To study the effects of photodynamic therapy(PDT) as an adjunctive method in the treatment of mild to moderate periodontitis by scaling and root planing(SRP).METHODS: A split-mouth,randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted.150 teeth with probing depth(PD) of more than 4 mm and not exceeding 6 mm plus bleeding on probing(BOP) at one or more periodontal sites in 25 patients diagnosed as mild to moderate periodontitis were included.In each patient,3 teeth were randomly assigned to SRP plus PDT using a laser source with a wavelength of 660 nm associated with 26.7 mmol/L methylene blue as the photosensitizer.PDT was conducted 1,3 and 5 weeks respectively after SRP(test group) and the contra-lateral 3 teeth were assigned to SRP only(control group).PD,BOP and Bleeding Index(BI) were measured at baseline,5 and 7 weeks after SRP.RESULTS: There was no significant difference in PD,BOP and BI between 2 groups(P0.05) before periodontal treatment.Clinical parameters improved significantly after both therapies(P0.05),whereas higher reduction of PD and BOP were observed in the test group than in control group 5 weeks after SRP(P0.05),in addition,the decrease of BOP and BI in the test group was more than in the control group 7 weeks after SRP(P0.05).CONCLUSION: PDT has an additional benefit in the treatment of mild to moderate periodontitis by SRP.Multiple PDT application might further improve the outcome of periodontal therapy.