Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2025
Author Spotlight: Exploring Photodynamic Therapy with Curcumin in a Murine Model for Oral Candidiasis
Published on: October 27, 2023
Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy for the treatment of oral mucositis-A comparative study
Adriele de Freitas Neiva Lessa1, Miriã de Andrade Celestino2, Júlia Mariosa Ferreira2
1Research Department - Muriaé Cancer Hospital. Cristiano Varella Foundation. Muriaé, MG, Brazil; Department of Oral Surgery and Pathology, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Objectives:
The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of photobiomodulation and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in the treatment of oral mucositis.
Background:
Oral Mucositis is a frequent complication of oral cavity and oropharynx cancer. Considering the OM aggravation by microorganisms contamination, disinfection provide by antimicrobial photodynamic therapy could be an effective approach.
Material And Methods:
This comparative study included fourteen patients undergoing radiochemotherapy for oral cavity and oropharynx cancer treatment, who developed oral mucositis.
Control Group:
photobiomodulation. Intervention group: photobiomodulation and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. The lesion size, duration, pain, and identification of microorganisms were evaluated.
Results:
The mean reduction in oral mucositis size in the intervention group was 0.70 cm² (±0.35) and 0.30 cm² (±1.10) for the control group. The mean duration of oral mucositis was 18.37 days (±12.12) for the intervention group and 23 days (±14.78) for the control group. The intervention group had a mean reduction of 3.40 points on the pain scale (±2.44), while the control group had 0.17 (±2.28). In the intervention group, the predominant isolated microbiota was featured as mixed culture (n = 4/ 50%), followed of Gram Positive (n = 3/ 37.50%), and Gram Negative (n = 1/ 12.55%). In the control group, mixed culture was also more frequent (n = 4 / 66%), followed by Gram Positive (n = 2 /34%). Gram Negative was not predominantly isolated in the control group.
Conclusion:
No statistical significance was found between PBM-T alone and PBM-T + PDT. However, the better outcomes reached by PBM-T + PDT group would suggest there could be a role for combined treatment in the management of OM lesions.
