Oral probiotic and its delivery carriers to improve oral health: A review

Abstract

In recent years, oral probiotics have been researched on their effectiveness in reducing and preventing oral diseases. Oral probiotics could be introduced into the oral cavity to keep the equilibrium of the microbiome. Hence, the delivery carrier for oral probiotics plays an important factor to ensure a high number of oral probiotics were delivered and released into the oral cavity. This review presents a brief overview of oral microbiota and the role of oral probiotics in reducing oral diseases. Moreover, important aspects of the oral probiotic product such as viability, adherence ability, health effects, safety, and delivery site were discussed. Besides that, the importance of utilizing indigenous oral probiotics was also emphasized. Oral probiotics are commonly found in the market in the form of chewing tablets, lozenges, and capsules. Hence, the oral probiotic carriers currently used in the market and research were reviewed. Furthermore, this review introduces new potential oral probiotic delivery carriers such as oral strip, bucco-adhesive gel, and mouthwash. Their effectiveness in delivering oral probiotics for oral health was also explored.