Probiotics: a Novel Step towards Oral Health

The concept of microbial ecological change as a mechanism for preventing dental diseases is an important one while altered microbial ecology may also lead to dental diseases. New methods such as probiotic approaches to eliminate pathogenic members of the microbiota can be investigated. Probiotics have been extensively studied for their health promoting effects. The main field of research has been in the gastrointestinal tract. However, in the past few years probiotics have also been investigated in the oral health perspective. We suggest that probiotic treatment of diseases other than dental caries and periodontal disease should also be systematically investigated. In general, hardly any randomized controlled trials have been conducted in this area and the studies on probiotics and oral health are still in their cradle. Hence, much more investigations are called for before any evidence-based conclusions can be drawn: if or not probiotic therapy can be recommended for oral health purposes. AOSR 2011;1(2):108-115.