Photodynamic and Tissue Tolerable Plasma Therapies as Alternatives to Antimicrobials to Control Pathogenic Biofilms

Abstract

The need for novel antimicrobial techniques has become critical for a number of reasons, including the emergence of resistant strains because of excessive prescription and misuse of antibiotics. The mouth is colonized by a large number of microorganisms. When these microorganisms are organized as biofilms they can contribute to chronic diseases in the human population, such as dental caries, candidiasis, and periodontal disease. Hence, alternative antimicrobial approaches have risen to facilitate the treatment of these diseases. As novel therapies, photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy and tissue-tolerable plasma are promising methods that offer the possibility of microbial decontamination with decreased odds for the traditional side effects. Thus, the present review aims to offer an overview and future directions of these new approaches to control pathogenic oral biofilms.

Applications of Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy against Bacterial Biofilms

“…For example, several research groups compared the relative performance of CAP in the eradication of bacterial biofilms and embedded bacteria with aPDT [ 76 , 141 , 142 , 143 , 144 ]. The results of these comparative studies showed that although CAP significantly reduced bacterial biofilms and inhibited their formation, the overall relative performance was in par or less than that of aPDT, in line with conclusions made by an earlier comparative review [ 145 ]. Therefore, the researchers recommended further improvement of the CAP combination with aPDT.…”

Combinations of Photodynamic Therapy with Other Minimally Invasive Therapeutic Technologies against Cancer and Microbial Infections

“…In a world-first and groundbreaking study, the combination of CAP and PDT against skin and wound pathogens has been reported to have synergistic enhancement of efficacy in vitro [ 174 ]. The combination of PDT with CAP has been scantily reviewed [ 175 ]. However, research reports of novel innovations that combine CAP with PDT have appeared in the literature.…”