Chapter 13: Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT) for Oral Infections

Most common oral diseases are caused by the host/bacterial interactions with inherently resistant and diverse biofilms. The removal of these biofilms, or the killing of the bacteria of which they are formed, is important in treating these diseases. In order to avoid plasmid-derived resistance and overcome the inherent resistance of biofilms, novel antimicrobial therapies are required. One of these techniques, antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT) is described in this chapter. The history of aPDT, from the first simple in vitro assays on single-species oral bacteria to optimise the conditions, to more advanced animal studies is explored. Furthermore, this therapy has now advanced out of the laboratory and is currently being used in dental clinics to treat patients with periodontal disease. Several case studies of the clinical effectiveness are given. aPDT has proven to be a novel and successful alternative therapy for biofilm-derived oral diseases.