Evaluation of the association between antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and probiotic therapy in the repair of experimentally induced apical periodontitis in rats
Apical periodontitis; Rats; Treatment; Probiotics; Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy.
Apical periodontitis (AP) is a biofilm-associated disease initiated by the invasion of the dental pulp by microorganisms from the oral cavity. The eradication of intracanal microbial infection is the main objective of endodontic treatment, and this is typically accomplished through chemical mechanical preparation, which is the gold standard in the treatment of apical periodontitis. However, conventional endodontic therapy has its limitations, sometimes resulting in ineffective microbial elimination and, in this sense, new methodologies have been developed. Studies carried out in recent years have highlighted the potential antibacterial role of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) and probiotic therapy in the treatment of apical periodontitis, but their results still lack evidence to compare their anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. The objective of this study will be to evaluate, in vivo, the effects of aPDT and probiotic therapy on the apical tissues of rat teeth with experimentally induced apical periodontitis by biochemical, histological, immunohistochemical and bone loss analysis. The research design will be in the form of a clinical trial, in vivo, randomized, blind and controlled. The analyzes will be carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) in version 20.0 for Windows ® XP. Statistical tests will be carried out using a margin of error of 5.0%. For comparisons between groups, the Mann-Whitney U test will be used for non-parametric data. For parametric data regarding the size of the lesion, the Student's t test will be used.