Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and bacterial load in endodontics

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This review of the efficacy of adjunctive photodynamic therapy (aPDT) on reducing bacterial load in the primary endodontic treatment of teeth with chronic apical periodontitis included 8 studies. While the findings suggest a benefit from aPDT the limited number and quality of the availabel studies mean the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

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Photodynamic therapy in primary teeth root canal therapy?

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This review of the efficacy of adjunctive photodynamic therapy (PDT) on root canal treatment in primary teeth included 4 studies. The included studies were small and of short duration and lacked clinically relevant outcomes. Larger high quality well conducted studies with follow up periods of at least 12 months are needed to assess the role of PDT in primary teeth.

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Photodynamic therapy as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal treatment

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This review of the adjunctive effects of lasers or antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) to non-surgical periodontal treatment included 17 RCTs. The studies were small and hetrogeneous including just 701 patients in total and of low quality providing very limited evidence.

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