Photodynamic Therapy in Periodontics: An Innovative Therapy with Dynamic Rays

Periodontal disease is a multifactorial disease associated with destruction of supporting periodontal tissues of the tooth caused by certain periodontopathogenic species of bacteria or their toxic products by means of a biofilm formation. The conventional methods to treat periodontal diseases are the mechanical removal of the biofilm and adjunctive use of antibacterial disinfectants or various antibiotics. The disadvantages of these conventional methods range from lack of patient compliance, inaccessible areas to instrumentation, microbial resistance in the biofilm, systemic side effects, and failure on the antibiotics to act on non perfused areas, allergy and limitation of spectrum of microorganisms affected. As a result there is pronounced interest and keenness in the development of alternatives like photodynamic therapy to conventional methods of treating periodontal disease. This review article provides a general insight of use of photodynamic therapy in medicine and dentistry. To our knowledge, this article coves all the detailed aspects of photodynamic therapy which are not yet covered in a single review article.