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Probiotics in Periodontics. Good for Bad!!! : A Review

Deepak H Dave, Sujal C Shah, Monali Shah, and Neeraj Deshpande

The concept of probiotics i.e. health beneficial microorganisms dates back as early as in the 20th century. It has become an area of interest to researchers in recent times. There has been a paradigm shift of treatment from specific bacterial elimination to altering bacterial ecology by probiotics. With the increase in the incidence of resistance to antibiotics, probiotics may be a promising area of research in periodontal therapy. There exists enough evidence to support the role of probiotics in dental caries but less evidence exists for their role in periodontal disease. Probiotics provide an effective and economic means to combat periodontal disease. Thus, a mere change in diet by including probiotic foods may halt, retard, or even significantly delay the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases, promoting a healthy lifestyle to fight periodontal infections. Many questions have been raised pertaining to the benefits of probiotic administration, as their role in periodontics is still in infancy. A complete understanding of the broad ecologic changes they induce in the mouth is essential to assess their long term consequences for oral health and disease. This paper reviews the evidences for the use of probiotics and prebiotics for maintenance of oral health and for the prevention of periodontal disease.