Effects of Photodynamic Therapy on Clinical and Gingival Crevicular Fluid Inflammatory Biomarkers in Chronic Periodontitis: A Split-Mouth Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: There are limited clinical experiments addressing the effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) as an adjunct to conventional scaling and root planing (SRP) on clinical and biologic features of periodontitis. This trial compares the clinical parameters and cytokine profiles in gingival crevicular fluid of patients with moderate-to-severe chronic periodontitis (CP) who have been treated using SRP alone or SRP + PDT.Methods: Twenty-two patients with two contralateral teeth affected with moderate-to-severe CP were selected. After SRP, the participants’ teeth were randomized to receive either no further treatment or a single application of PDT using a 638-nm laser and toluidine blue. Although the change in probing depth was the primary outcome, bleeding on probing, clinical attachment level, gingival recession, interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and matrix metalloproteinase 8 and 9 were also evaluated at baseline and 3 months postintervention. An oral rinse assay was also performed to dete...