The short answer
Ozone therapy (Ozontherapie) in dentistry means holding ozone gas — or water enriched with it — against a small, precisely defined spot in the mouth for a few seconds, with the aim of reducing the bacteria, viruses and fungi living there. The gas is made in the treatment room from medical oxygen and breaks back down into oxygen almost immediately afterwards. It is a supportive step inside another treatment, never a treatment in its own right: it does not remove decay, it does not remove hardened deposits, and it replaces neither a filling, nor a root canal treatment (Wurzelbehandlung), nor gum therapy. In Germany it is a private service, which means statutory health insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, GKV) does not pay for it. Understood that way it is a quick, painless addition; sold as a way to avoid the drill, it is oversold.
What ozone is, and why it vanishes again
Ozone is oxygen with one atom too many. The air we breathe is O₂; ozone is O₃, and that third atom sits on the molecule loosely. It is what gives the air its sharp smell after a thunderstorm.
Two properties make it interesting to a dentist. The loose third atom makes ozone a powerful oxidising agent, so it reacts with the outer structures of microorganisms on contact. And it is unstable: within a very short time it falls apart into plain oxygen again. That instability is the point, not a drawback — nothing is left behind in the mouth, nothing accumulates in the tissue, and nothing has to be rinsed out.
It also means the gas cannot be bottled and stored. It is generated at the chair, seconds before use, by a device roughly the size of a small kitchen appliance. Why oxidation destroys bacteria, and where that effect runs out, is covered in How does ozone work against bacteria? (EN).
How it is applied — and what a session looks like
There is no injection, no tablet and nothing to swallow. Three delivery routes cover almost everything.
A sealed cup over a tooth. A soft silicone applicator forms a closed chamber over the tooth. Gas flows in, stays for seconds, and is drawn straight out again through suction — nothing escapes into the room and nothing is inhaled. This is the usual route for a tooth surface or a cavity that has just been cleaned out.
A fine probe. For a gum pocket, a root canal or the area around an implant, the gas is delivered through a thin tip that reaches into the space.
Ozonated water or oil. Water saturated with ozone can be used to rinse; ozonated oils, which release the effect more slowly, are sometimes used on a sore patch of gum.
What you notice is remarkably little: no taste, essentially no smell, no heat, no vibration, no pressure. The application takes seconds, occasionally up to a minute. Most people say afterwards that they were not sure it had happened.
And there is no such thing as a stand-alone “ozone appointment”. A realistic sequence: you come for a filling, the decayed tissue is removed under local anaesthetic (Betäubung) in the usual way, the prepared cavity gets a short ozone application before the filling material goes in, and the filling is placed. The ozone step added perhaps forty seconds. In gum treatment it works the same way — the root surfaces are cleaned mechanically first, because that is the part that does the work, and ozone comes afterwards. The order is never reversed.
Where dentists use it — and where they do not
The realistic range of use looks roughly like this:
- Early decay that has not yet formed a cavity, particularly on the chewing surfaces of children’s teeth, alongside sealing and fluoride measures
- A prepared cavity, treated briefly before the filling goes in
- Inside a root canal, as an additional rinse step alongside standard irrigation
- Gum pockets, after mechanical cleaning, as an adjunct in periodontitis (Parodontitis) therapy
- Inflamed tissue around an implant (Implantat), in the early, reversible stage
- Ulcers, aphthae, herpes lesions and sore pressure points from a denture (Prothese)
- After an extraction, on the socket, where a dentist considers it useful
Where it does not belong: ozone removes no decayed tooth substance, no tartar (Zahnstein) and no biofilm. It closes no hole, whitens no teeth, regrows no bone, and makes no necessary extraction unnecessary. Any presentation of ozone as an alternative to drilling, to gum treatment or to a root canal treatment misrepresents what the method does. Which situations actually justify it is the subject of When is ozone therapy recommended? Uses, indications and limits (EN).
Not to be confused with "ozone therapy" in alternative medicine
This trips up many people searching the term in Germany. Under the same word, alternative practitioners (Heilpraktiker) offer procedures in which ozone is introduced into the body systemically — into blood that is then reinfused, for instance — with claims about circulation or chronic illness. That is a different field, with its own discussion around evidence and safety.
Dental ozone is local, stays outside the bloodstream, lasts seconds and is confined to one tooth or one patch of gum. If what you are reading involves your blood or a course of weekly infusions, you have landed in another subject.
What the evidence says — and where it stops
In the laboratory, the antimicrobial effect of ozone is well documented and not really controversial: it inactivates a broad spectrum of bacteria, viruses and fungi on contact, and quickly.
In the mouth, the picture is more modest. Clinical studies exist, but many are small, use different devices, concentrations and application times, and measure different outcomes — which makes them hard to compare and hard to pool. What they do not show is that ozone alone achieves what mechanical treatment achieves. The consistent professional position, reflected in how German dental associations and the specialist societies discuss the method, is that ozone is a supportive adjunct with plausible local effects — not an established stand-alone therapy, and not part of the standard catalogue of care.
We would rather say that plainly than dress it up. Ozone is an addition we consider in specific situations. It is not a breakthrough, and it is never a reason to postpone treatment that needs doing.
What you notice afterwards — and when to get in touch
Practical points if you are new to Germany
It will not be on your insurance. German statutory funds cover treatment considered sufficient, appropriate and economical, and ozone does not currently sit inside that catalogue. So it appears as a private item, agreed in writing before it is carried out. That written agreement is not a formality — you should always see and sign what a private service will cost before it happens. The money side in detail: What does ozone therapy cost in Germany? (EN).
Nobody may add it without telling you. If a plan contains an ozone application, you may ask what it is expected to achieve in your case, and you may decline it. Declining does not change the core treatment.
The language question. An optional, privately paid measure is exactly the kind of thing that is hard to weigh up in a foreign language. English is one of the working languages in our practice, so that conversation happens in a language you use comfortably: English-Speaking Dentist in NRW. Patients come to us in Wuppertal-Elberfeld from across the city and from neighbouring Solingen, Remscheid and Velbert.
Ozone irritates the lungs in higher concentrations, which is precisely why dental application is designed as a closed system: sealed applicator, continuous suction, a few seconds confined to one spot. The gas does not circulate through the room and you do not inhale it. Mention any respiratory condition beforehand, as with any treatment.
No. Once decay has broken through the enamel and formed a cavity, the damaged tissue has to be removed and the hole filled. Ozone can play a supporting role at the earlier stage, when a lesion is still limited to the surface and the tooth can potentially remineralise with fluoride and better cleaning.
Seconds to about a minute per site. It is a short step within a longer appointment, not an appointment of its own.
In laboratory conditions ozone acts against all three groups, which is why it is sometimes used on herpes lesions or on a fungal infection under a denture. How much of that transfers to the real conditions of the mouth is less certain, and honest practitioners describe it as supportive rather than curative.
It is used in paediatric dentistry, mostly on early lesions in molars and always alongside fluoride, sealing, cleaning technique and diet. For a nervous child the appeal is that the application is quiet, with no injection and no drill sound. It does not replace treating a cavity that already exists.
You can ask, and we will tell you honestly whether it makes sense in your situation. There are cases where we would say it adds little — and we would rather say so than bill for something we do not expect to help you.
Ozone therapy at the dentist is a small, quick, local measure with a narrow and sensible purpose: reducing germs at a defined spot, in seconds, with nothing left behind. It sits inside other treatments and improves the conditions for them. It does not replace them. Judged on that scale it is a useful supportive tool; judged against the promises made for it online, it will always disappoint. The most reliable way to decide is to ask what it is meant to achieve for your tooth, this week, and what changes if you decline.
Zahnarztpraxis Tsypin · Wuppertal. This article was medically reviewed and is provided for information; it does not replace an examination. Updated August 2026.
