Local Drug Delivery System – A Comprehensive Review

Periodontitis and gingivitis are diseases of the oral cavity which one tends to encounter very often in daily practice. The ideal treatment for this disease has been scaling and root planning along with administration of systemic antibiotics if and when needed. The most common problem encountered with this line of treatment is the inability to maintain contact with the diseased site for a sufficient amount of time and to reach the depth of the pocket. Local drug delivery system is a new approach by which drugs can be administered into the depth pocket by various methods for a prolonged period of time leading to a greater elimination of bacteria from the pocket and resolution of the disease. This comprehensive review article tries to cover the indications, contraindications,types of local drug delivery systems at length and the latest advances in them.