Re: the use of povidone iodine and advanced gum disease

more:


http://www.usc.edu/hsc/dental/ohc/articles/02antimicrobial_agents.pdf


Povidone-iodine
The antibacterial properties and uses
of iodine-povidone in medicine are well
established. The natural element, iodine,
has been used for more than
150years in mucosal antisepsis, in the
therapy of skin infections and burns,
and in wound management. Yet, only
after the introduction of povidoneiodine
in the 1960s, was it possible to
employ this highly efficient microbicide
to a wide variety of bacterial, fungal
and viral infections. Short durations of
povidone-iodine contact with various
periodontopathic bacteria provides
effective in vitro killing (21, 22). Also,
povidone-iodine exhibits marked anticytomegalovirus
activity (23), a herpesvirus
implicated in the pathogenesis
of periodontitis (24). Emergence of
povidone-iodine resistance microorganisms
has not been reported to
have been detected to date. Despite its
impressive antimicrobial properties,
povidone-iodine is not widely used in
the prevention and treatment of oral
infections in the USA and Europe.
Povidone-iodine is water-soluble,
does not irritate healthy or diseased
oral mucosa, and exhibits no adverse
side-effects, such as discoloration of
teeth and tongue and change in taste.

Tweet