Effect of photodynamic therapy for the treatment of halitosis in adolescents – a controlled, microbiological, clinical trial

Halitosis can exert a negative influence on the social relations of adolescents and affect one's self-image. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and microbiological effect of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) on halitosis in adolescents. Forty-six individuals aged 12 to 19 years were randomly allocated: Group 1 – treatment with photodynamic therapy; Group 2 – treatment with a tongue scraper and Group 3 – treatment with a tongue scraper and photodynamic therapy. The count of bacterial colony-forming units per milliliter was used for the microbiological analysis. Statistical analysis involved the Kruskal–Wallis test followed by the Student–Newman–Keuls test. ANOVA was used for the determination of colony-forming units after treatment. The level of significance for all statistical tests was 5% (p < 0.05). After treatment, a statistically significant reduction in total volatile sulfur compounds was found in all groups (p < 0.001), with the largest reduction (median: 0) found in Group 3 (tongue scraper and photodynamic therapy). Moreover, a statistically significant difference was found between treatment with aPDT and a tongue scraper alone (p < 0.001). The present findings demonstrate an option for the treatment of halitosis in adolescents, with an immediate effect and without the mechanical aggression to the toungue.

Halitosis can affect the social life and bring a lot of embarrassment to anyone who has this condition, especially by teenagers who are in a phase of social acceptance, it is mainly caused by degradation of organic substrates by anaerobic bacteria present in the dorsum of the tongue. This study aimed to propose a new approach to treatment for halitosis using antimicrobial photodynamic therapy, due to the high efficiency of this therapy when used in other dental treatments, and few studies submitted for this purpose. As a result it was possible to observe an immediate result in the reduction of halitosis.

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