OXIDATIVE STRESS AND THE PERIODONTIUM

This review is intended to provide a critical, up-to-date summary of the field, with particular emphasis on its implications for the application of "anti-oxidant therapy" in periodontal disease. We have reviewed the mechanisms of actions, features, and sources of most common free radicals and reactive oxygen species, as well as analyzed the biological targets for oxidative damage. Based on the direct and indirect anti-oxidant host defenses in relation to the role of polymorph nuclear neutrophils in periodontitis, there is a current evidence for oxidative damage in chronic inflammatory periodontal disease, and the possible therapeutic effects of anti-oxidants in treating and/or preventing such pathology.