Author:

Keywords:

probiotics, periodontitis, therapy, microbial interference, replacement therapy, treatment, interfering alpha-streptococci, cariogenic bacteria, adult periodontitis, controlled trial, immune-response, disease, plaque, flora, actinomycetemcomitans, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine, INTERFERING ALPHA-STREPTOCOCCI, ADULT PERIODONTITIS, THERAPY, INHIBITION, PROBIOTICS, BACTERIA, DISEASE, MUTANS, FLORA, Animals, Antibiosis, Bacteria, Anaerobic, Bacteroides, Colony Count, Microbial, Dogs, Double-Blind Method, Male, Periodontal Pocket, Probiotics, Random Allocation, Root Planing, Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus sanguis, 1105 Dentistry, Dentistry, 3203 Dentistry

Abstract:

The complexity of the periodontal microbiota resembles that of the gastro-intestinal tract, where infectious diseases are treatable via probiotics. In the oro-pharyngeal region, probiotic or replacement therapies have shown some benefit in the prevention of dental caries, otitis media, and pharyngitis, but their effectiveness in the treatment of periodontitis is unknown. Therefore, this study addressed the hypothesis that the application of selected beneficial bacteria, as an adjunct to scaling and root planing, would inhibit the periodontopathogen recolonization of periodontal pockets. Analysis of the data showed, in a beagle dog model, that when beneficial bacteria were applied in periodontal pockets adjunctively after root planing, subgingival recolonization of periodontopathogens was delayed and reduced, as was the degree of inflammation, at a clinically significant level. The study confirmed the hypothesis and provides a proof of concept for a guided pocket recolonization (GPR) approach in the treatment of periodontitis.