Role of Tetracyclines in Periodontics: A Literature Review

Tetracyclines are a unique group of drugs which were discovered in the 1940s, developed as a result of the screening of soil samples for antibiotic organisms. The first of these compounds which was chlortetracycline, was introduced in 1948. Soon, they were found to be highly effective against various pathogens including rickettsiae, Gram-positive, and Gram-negative bacteria, thus becoming a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics.