Abstract
Incomplete eradication of plaque bacteria from the plaque retentive sites and the emerging problem of antibiotic resistance led the scientific community to explore new antimicrobial strategies for improved results and shun antibiotic resistance.
The purpose of this in-vitro study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of a novel light based therapy and to assess the susceptibility of oral plaque bacteria to light based technologies with and without photosensitizers.
Four oral plaque bacterial strains were isolated from the dental plaque sample collected from the patients and exposed to various light based technologies and photodynamic therapy (PDT) with and without photosensitizers. The cultures were analysed for viable colony forming unit (CFU) counts. One-way analysis of variance was used to statistically analyse differences and the Student-Newman-Keuls method to perform multiple comparison procedures.
All groups showed remarkable reduction in the CFUs as compared to control group with use of light based technologies and PDT in this study. The difference of antimicrobial effect between all tested groups either with light based technologies and PDT with control group showed significant reduction in CFUs.
From the results of this study, we concluded that light based technologies and PDT could be a valuable alternative therapy to mechanical debridement in the prevention of growth and recolonisation of oral plaque bacteria.