title: Adjunctive effect of photodynamic therapy to scaling and root planing in the treatment of chronic periodontitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for scaling and root planing (SRP) in the treatment of chronic periodontitis.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  PDT has become a potential treatment of infectious diseases with the development of laser medicine. However, there are very limited data from clinical trials to evaluate the effect of PDT in the treatment of periodontitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-eight patients with chronic periodontitis were included and divided into three groups. They were treated with SRP alone, SRP followed by one PDT, or SRP followed by two PDT treatments. PDT was performed at sites with a probing depth (PD) ≥5 mm by using Periowave(TM) therapy. Periodontal values of bleeding on probing (BOP), PD, and clinic attachment loss (CAL) were examined at baseline, 6 wk after treatment, and 12 wk after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the baseline, sites with baseline PD ≥5 mm in all three groups showed significant reductions of PD, CAL, and BOP at 6 and 12 wk after treatment. Although there were no differences between the three groups for PD and CAL in all three examinations, the presence of BOP sites at 12 wk, but not 6 wk, after SRP treatment significantly decreased in groups with PDT in comparison with SRP alone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PDT may serve as an adjunctive therapy to SRP treatment in periodontal pockets with PD ≥5 mm to reduce the presence of bleeding in these lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Shanghai 200011, China.
authors.forename: Linhua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: Yiming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chaolun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Zhongchen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yufeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Dali
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012534:Dental Scaling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000188:drug therapy; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D016745:Root Planing