Address for Correspondence: Dr. Sumit Kochhar, Senior Lecturer, Department of Periodontology and Oral Implantology, Guru Nanak Dev Dental College and Research Institute, Sunam (PB.), India.
Online published on 7 December, 2011.
Probiotics are “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit upon the host”. Now-a-days probiotics are available in formulations like tablets, capsules, lozenges and mouthwashes. The popularity and usage of probiotics is increasing day by day as they are beneficial for general and oral health. The primary aim of this study was to assess if probiotics could be effective in the treatment of gingivitis and to evaluate the influence of the probiotics on plaque and the lactobacilli colony count in the saliva. Twenty patients suffering from moderate to severe gingivitis were enrolled in a randomized, split mouth study. The four week study comprised of two phases of two weeks each. During the 1st, phase two randomly selected quadrants in all the patients were treated with only scaling (group 1). The patients returned after two weeks and one of the two remaining quadrants was scaled. On the same day the subjects started oral intake of probiotics (1.375 billion cfu/day) in the form of capsules for two weeks. The quadrant which was not treated with scaling in the second phase was influenced by only probiotic administration and thus constituted the probiotic group (group 2). The quadrant which was treated with scaling in the second phase received the benefits of both scaling and probiotics and formed group 3. The clinical parameters recorded in the study were Plaque index (PI) and Gingival index (Gl). The saliva samples for lactobacilli colony count were collected at the start and end of phase two i.e. before and after the administration of probiotics. All groups showed significant improvement in clinical parameters. The improvement in both PI and Glwas best for Group 3. Group 2 showed greater improvement in Gl when compared with group 1. Therewas also significant increase in the number of lactobacilli colonies.
Results of the present study indicate that probiotics effectively reduce Gl and PI in gingivitis patients.
Gingivitis, Lactobacilli, Probiotics
