Efficacy of gasiform ozone and photodynamic therapy on a multispecies oral biofilm in vitro

Eur J Oral Sci. 2007 Feb;115(1):77-80. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0722.2007.00418.x.

Abstract

Ozone gas and photodynamic therapy (PDT) have been claimed to be antimicrobially effective. This study assessed their antimicrobial potential in vitro. Mature six-species oral biofilms were treated as follows (n = 9 per group): (i) a 60-s application of gasiform vacuum-ozone or vacuum alone (on wet or air-dried biofilm samples); (ii) PDT (i.e. methylene blue in combination with or without a diode soft laser, and a soft laser alone); or (iii) antimicrobial solutions: immersion of biofilms for 60 s in 0.2 and 2% chlorhexidine or in 0.5 and 5% hypochlorite solution. Treatment with chlorhexidine or hypochlorite served as a positive control, whereas untreated samples served as negative controls. Colony-forming units on blood agar were counted. Only the 5% hypochlorite solution was able to totally eliminate the microorganisms in the biofilm. The observed reduction of viable counts by vacuum-ozone application and PDT was less than one log(10) step. Under the conditions of the current study, gasiform ozone and PDT had a minimal effect on the viability of microorganisms organized in a cariogenic biofilm.

MeSH terms

  • Actinomyces / drug effects
  • Animals
  • Anti-Infective Agents, Local / pharmacology
  • Biofilms / drug effects*
  • Candida albicans / drug effects
  • Cattle
  • Colony Count, Microbial
  • Dental Caries / microbiology
  • Dental Plaque / microbiology*
  • Fusobacterium nucleatum / drug effects
  • Lasers
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Microbial Viability / drug effects
  • Oxidants, Photochemical / pharmacology*
  • Ozone / pharmacology*
  • Photochemotherapy*
  • Streptococcus oralis / drug effects
  • Streptococcus sobrinus / drug effects
  • Vacuum
  • Veillonella / drug effects

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents, Local
  • Oxidants, Photochemical
  • Ozone