Efficacy of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy for root canals infected with Enterococcus faecalis

Effective decontamination of root canal systems is a constant concern in clinical practice. In this article, we compare the performance of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) in reducing the amount of Enterococcus faecalis in root canals. Relevant studies were identified by searching electronic databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, BVS (Medline, Scielo, Lilacs and BBO), Scopus, and Cochrane, and by manually searching the references of identified studies. The terms used in the literature search were "photodynamic therapy" and "Enterococcus faecalis". We selected 13 experimental studies that exclusively assessed the performance of PDT in reducing E. faecalis in root canals of human teeth. In an evaluation of methodological quality, 12 articles were classified as moderate-quality reports and 1 as a high-quality report. No article needed to be excluded because of low-quality methodology. The results showed that PDT had a better antimicrobial effect when used as an adjuvant endodontic treatment to NaOCl. However, this finding should be carefully interpreted, as there are few relevant studies and the methods of the selected studies varied.