I＇he photodynamic therapy on Streptococcus mutans biofilms using erythrosine and dental halogen curing unit

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effect of photodynamic therapy （PDT）, using erythrosine as a photosensitizing agent and a dental halogen curing unit as a light source, on Streptococcus mutans in a biofilm phase. The S. mutans biofilms were formed in a 24-well cell culture cluster. Test groups consisted of biofilms divided into four groups： group 1： no photosensitizer or light irradiation treatment （control group）; group 2： photosensitizer treatment alone; group 3： light irradiation alone; group 4： photosensitizer treatment and light irradiation. After treatments, the numbers of colony-forming unit （CFU） were counted and samples were examined by confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy （CLSM）. Only group 4 （combined treatment） resulted in significant increases in cell death, with rates of 75% and 55% after 8 h of incubation, and 74% and 42% at 12 h, for biofilms formed in brain-heart infusion （BHI） broth supplemented with 0% or O. 1% sucrose, respectively. Therefore, PDT of S. mutans biofilms using a combination of erythrosine and a dental halogen curing unit, both widely used in dental clinics, resulted in a significant increase in cell death. The PDT effects are decreased in biofilms that form in the presence of sucrose.