Biofilm Control Strategies in Dental Health - Antibiofilm Agents: From Diagnosis to Treatment and Prevention - page 289

Table 1 Summary of methods to control biofilm growth in oral health
Physical methods Comments References

Mechanical plaque control: tooth
brushing and flossing

In combination with toothpaste is the most common way
of controlling dental plaque

Andlaw, ( 1978 ), Barbier et al. ( 2010 ), Iacono et al. ( 1998 ),
Mandel ( 1994 )

Scaling and root planing Removal of plaque and calculus to treat periodontitis

Ultrasonic debridement Professional removal of plaque and calculus

Photodynamic therapy Use of a chemical compound called “photosensitizer”

which absorbs light. It is preferentially taken up by
bacteria and subsequently activated by light of the
appropriate wavelength

Soukos and Goodson ( 2011 ), Vlacic et al. ( 2007 ),
Williams et al. ( 2004 )

Nanoparticles Used in photodynamic therapy to encapsulate the “photo-

sensitizer” or to deliver antimicrobial compounds

Allaker ( 2010 ), Hannig and Hannig ( 2010 ), Hetrick
et al. ( 2009 )

Chemical methods
Antiseptics See Table 3

Antibiotics Penicillin (Amoxicillin

Metronidazole
Tetracycline
Azithromycin
Ciprofloxacine

Leszczy´ska et al. ( 2011 ), Payne and Golub ( 2011 ), Rams
et al. ( 2013 ), Sgolastra et al. ( 2011 ), Slots ( 2012 )

Antimicrobial peptides A special class of broad spectrum antibiotics that have

attracted a great interest to control oral biofilms

Eckert et al. ( 2006 ), Folkesson et al. ( 2008 ), Helmerhorst
et al. ( 1999 ), Lucchese et al. ( 2012 )

Natural products Extracts containing plant polyphenols Ferrazzano et al. ( 2011 ), Hamilton-Miller ( 2001 ), Hannig

et al. ( 2008 ), L¨hr et al. ( 2011 ), Tagashira et al. ( 1997 ),
Xu et al. ( 2011 ), Yano et al. ( 2012 ), Yoo et al. ( 2011 )

Quorum sensing inhibitors Quorum sensing is a complex regulatory process depen-

dent on bacterial cell density that controls biofilm
formation. Inhibition of the process will disturb the
oral biofilm

Asahi et al. ( 2010 ), He et al. ( 2012 ), Jang et al. ( 2013 ),
LoVetri and Madhyastha ( 2010 ), Romero et al. ( 2012 )