Ozone: A paradigm shift in dental therapy

Abstract

Objectives: Ozone has been used in medicine for over a century, but its clinical applications in dentistry have just begun to be explored. The effects of ozone either as gas, water, or oil in the treatment of dental diseases such as caries, periodontitis, and hypersensitivity have been investigated and the results are promising. Thus, the objective of this review is to shed light on the recent clinical oral applications of ozone and summarize the various research findings regarding the use of ozone in dentistry. This review would enable researchers to know the background of ozone in dentistry and to help them formulate new and improved protocols to study the possible applications of ozone in clinical dentistry. Data Sources: Pertinent literature on the application of ozone to treat various dental diseases was thoroughly searched using Medline, PubMed, Central, Cochrane, and Embase. Conclusion: Clinical use of ozone is a minimally invasive approach toward the prevention and control of oral diseases. The present literature review observed encouraging results on the use of ozone in various modalities of dental treatments. However, the use of ozone in dentistry needs further investigation using controlled clinical trials, with sufficient, follow-up period and standardized measurements to establish ozone therapy as a standard treatment modality in dental practice.