Efficacy of antibacterial/antifungal mouth rinses in the control of periodontal pathogens and behaviour of neutrophils under these conditions

Periodontitis is a polymicrobial infectious and inflammatory disease that can lead to destruction of supporting structures of teeth. Although pathogenesis of periodontitis includes genetic and environmental factors, oral microbial biofilm elicits an inflammatory host reaction. Improvement in patients with periodontitis relies mainly on elimination or at least control of periodontal pathogens. The aim of this study is to investigate the activity of antibacterial-antifungal mouth rinses on growth and virulence properties of planktonic/biofilm cells of specific periodontal pathogens. Four combinations of antibiotic rinses will be tested initially for efficacy in inhibiting growth of the target bacterial strains that are implicated in periodontal disease and neutrophil behavior. The second tier in this project would be the testing of several other antibiotic combinations that are still in the development stage. The results of this study would determine the ratio of antibiotic and antifungal that would be optimum to use in these existing and the new products. In addition to benefiting Oravital® in the development of these rinses, dental practices will have an effective alternative in the treatment of dental disease.

Faculty Supervisor:

Michael Glogauer

Student:

Anca Serbanescu

Partner:

Oravital Inc

Discipline:

Dentistry

Sector:

Pharmaceuticals

University:

University of Toronto