Effect of Photodynamic Antimicrobial Chemotherapy on Mono- and Multi-Species Cariogenic Biofilms: A Literature Review.

Abstract Objective: The aim of this literature review is to study the effect of photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) on mono- and multi-species cariogenic biofilms. Methods: To this purpose, the database, PubMed, was searched using the descriptors, photodynamic therapy, antimicrobial photodynamic chemotherapy, and photoinactivation, associated with the mandatory presence of the word biofilm. A total of 98 references published from 2003 to 2016 were selected. Moreover, literature reviews (15), investigations that did not have biofilms related to dental caries (65), and those that did not have Streptococcus mutans count as an outcome (7) were excluded, yielding a final amount of 11 publications. Results: The results revealed that Toluidine Blue O was the most used photosensitizer. Among the sources of light, light-emitting diode was the choice, and the biofilm models varied between in vitro and in situ. Multi-species biofilms were more resistant to the antimicrobial effects of PACT due to the thic...