Probiotic Therapy and the Oral Microbiome

Abstract

The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to obtain an enhancement of general oral health by supplementing the daily oral hygiene with a three-month oral probiotic therapy. For this randomized clinical trial, patients for the study group were selected meeting defined inclusion and exclusion criteria and Gingival Probing Deapth (GDP), Bleeding on Probing (BOP) and pH was measured before and after using probiotic therapy. For statistical analisys, the data was transferred from the periodontal chart into an Excel sheet. The results were presented by means of descriptive analysis, followed by the statistical analysis with the Fisher’s exact test, testing whether the null-hypothesis is rejected. In the study group, nine out of ten patients showed an improvement after the treatment phase, and one patient did not present an improvement. In the control group seven out of ten patients showed an improvement, and three patients did not. The test resulted in p = 0.291, thus p > 0,05, which means, that there was no statistical significance in improvement in the two groups for GPD. Only those participants were included in the database, which demonstrated BOP > 0 during the first measurement. In the study group eight patients were included in the study, of which all presented an improvement in BOP after the oral probiotic therapy. In the control group four patients were included in the study, of which no patient presented an improvement. The test resulted in p = 0.002, thus p < 0.05. The improvement in the two groups for BOP was considered statistically very significant. In conclusion, improvements have been obtained by a decrease in BOP. Although the intake of oral probiotics on GPD and salivary pH did not show statistical significance, positive changes have also been noted. Further studies are needed to prove the beneficial effects of oral probiotics on oral health.