Effect of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy on periodontally infected tooth sockets in rats

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) in alveolar treatment of areas with induced periodontitis. Thirty male Wistar rats were subjected to ligature-induced periodontal disease (PD) in the first left inferior molars, while the right side molars did not receive ligatures. After 7 days of PD evolution, ligatures were removed from the left side, and the first left and right mandibular molars were extracted. Afterwards, animals were divided into groups according to the following treatments: control (C)—no treatment; mechanical debridement (MD)—mechanical debridement and irrigation with saline solution; and aPDT—mechanical debridement, irrigation with toluidine blue O (TBO), and 1 min of laser irradiation (GaAlAs, 660 nm, 30 mW, 32 J/cm², 60 s). Ligatures were removed and samples of the alveolar content after extraction and after each treatment were collected for microbial processing by real-time polymerase chain reaction with specific primers for Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Treponema denticola. Data were submitted to statistical analysis by multiple comparison tests (McNemar test; p < 0.05). T. denticola was not found in the collected samples. A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis were found in ligature samples. Tooth socket samples without periodontitis induction presented lesser microbial charge than samples with induced periodontitis (p < 0.05). aPDT significantly reduced A. actinomycetemcomitans levels on the left side (p < 0.05). It was concluded that aPDT was an effective antimicrobial treatment for tooth sockets in areas affected by induced periodontitis.