Role of Probiotics on Oral Health - A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Microbiological Study

Shivani Dhawan and Rajan Dhawan (2013), "Role of Probiotics on Oral Health - A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Microbiological Study," Journal of Research and Practice in Dentistry, Vol. 2013 (2013), Article ID 736993, DOI: 10.5171/2013.736993
Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate commercially available combined probiotic formulation for its effect on plaque, gingivitis and salivary Streptococcus mutans levels in subjects with chronic gingivitis. A total of 36 subjects were finally enrolled in a double blind placebo controlled randomized trial. Selected subjects were randomly divided in two groups; Group A (Control group) with 17 subjects, receiving placebo tablets twice daily and Group B (Probiotic group) with 19 subjects receiving probiotic tablets twice daily. The study consisted of two 2 weeks periods, a two week intervention period (T1-T2) and a two week post treatment period (T2-T3). Clinical parameters and bacterial counts of salivary Streptococcus mutans, were evaluated at the baseline (T1), at the completion (T2) of medication and 2 weeks after medication (T3). On comparative evaluation between the two groups, results indicated that Group-B (Probiotic group) exhibited statistically significant reduction in Plaque Index, Gingival index and Streptococcus mutans level than Group-A (Control group) over the entire span of the study. Our results indicated that probiotic could be useful in the improvement/ maintainance of oral health.