A clinical trial on topical effect of probiotics on oral Streptococcus mutans counts in children

Abstract

Background: Probiotics compete with the cariogenic oral bacteria like Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) for carbohydrates resulting in substrate depletion and reduction in the number of S. mutans. Aim: The evaluation of topical effect of short-term application of Probiotic formulation on S. mutans counts in plaque of 7-12 years old children with decayed, missing, filled teeth (dmft/DMFT) score 2-5. Materials and Methods: A registered randomized clinical trial (Clinical Trials Registry of India/ICMR - CTRI/2019/09/021205) was conducted on 7-12 years medium risk 10 children with dmft/DMFT score 2-5, where an innovative probiotic formulation (prepared from capsule) was applied for 6 consecutive days, on teeth and pre/post plaque samples were evaluated for S. mutans count on mitis salivarius agar. Results: There was statistically significant and drastic reduction from 608,200 to 6600 (>90%) in the S. mutans count in plaque after the application of probiotic solution for a short period of time (6 days). Conclusion: Short-term application of probiotics can be used as an alternate topical preventive therapy to reduce the count of S. mutans effectively in oral cavity/plaque. Hence, probiotic can be used as topical caries preventive agent.