Resumo

PAISANO, Adriana Fernandes  e  BOMBANA, Antonio Carlos. Phage therapy as an alternative in the fight against endodontic infections. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) [online]. 2010, vol.58, n.2, pp. 243-252. ISSN 1981-8637.

Many studies have investigated diverse intracanal medications to control the infectious process, especially in cases of microorganisms that are resistant to disinfection procedures. Drug-resistant microorganisms have been proliferating because of the indiscriminate use of antibiotics by healthcare professionals. Although research centers in the United States, France, and former Soviet States never stopped conducting studies on phage therapy, this concept was only rediscovered in the 1980s, again drawing the interest of the global scientific community. In the future, phage therapy may be used alone to eliminate antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or together with antibiotic therapy in cases where antibiotics still work. The irreversible increase in drug-resistant bacteria is cause for concern and has created a new role for phage therapy, especially in cases where the alternatives to control the signs and symptoms of drug-resistant infectious processes have been exhausted.

Palavras-chave : bacteriophages; endodontics; drug resistance bacterial.