Immunotherapy May Help to Cure Periodontal Disease, Reducing Bone Loss

The National Academy of Sciences released a paper on a novel periodontal disease (PD) treatment approach. This type of disease causes inflammatory processes in gums when a group of oral bacteria triggers the immune system. Severe cases of PD may lead to tooth loss and jawbone damage.

Most of the existing treatments focused on oral microbiome management, targeting pathogens. Instead, a new approach affects the immune system itself, decreasing inflammation and helping balance the bacteria population.

How it works?

Professor Charles Sfeir—chair of the Department of Periodontics and Preventive Dentistry in the Pitt School of Dental Medicine and leading paper author—explained that periodontal disease can, in most cases, be cured by deep dental cleaning, removing biofilms with pathogens. However, about 20-30% of patients may face complications—even if they maintain all oral hygiene practices, the inflammation process still destroys their jaw bones.

To fix the problem, scientists have developed special microparticles that change the immune response mechanism. These particles deliver to the gum a CCL2 compound that helps to inhibit tissue loss in severe periodontal disease cases.

The new way of therapy

CCL2 chemical alters the macrophages – white blood cells that hunt pathogens during immune reaction – replacing the M1 type (responsible for the inflammation process) with the M2 anti-inflammatory type.

Scientists tested this approach on mice with periodontal disease, showing promising results. This technique speeds up bone repair, reduces inflammation, and helps manage the population of disease-associated bacteria.

Scientists suggest that a novel approach may become an effective addition to existing PD treatment techniques that involve dental cleaning.