Recent Advances in Cold Atmospheric Plasma for the Treatment of Oral Diseases

Oral diseases, as one of the most common noncommunicable diseases globally, impose a significant health burden. Despite ongoing advances in therapeutic techniques, the treatment of oral diseases still faces challenges. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a non-equilibrium plasma generated at atmospheric pressure. It is capable of producing various biologically reactive species, such as reactive oxygen species. In applications, CAP treatment demonstrates target specificity, excellent biocompatibility, and other advantages. It is currently attracting considerable attention in oral medicine. This review summarizes research advances in CAP across antimicrobial therapy, periodontitis, oral wound healing, mucosal-associated diseases, and oral cancer. In addition, we introduce relevant research on the combined application of CAP treatment with other therapeutic strategies, including hydrogels and photodynamic therapy. We further discuss current clinical research progress of CAP in disease treatment, including its emerging applications in dentistry, and highlight recent progress in the development and clinical application of plasma devices. Finally, this review examines challenges encountered in the clinical translation of this technology for oral disease treatment and outlines prospects for its future development.