Probiotics for Oral Health Myth or Reality.pdfVIP

Professional i s s u E s Probiotics for Oral Health: Myth or Reality? Contact Author Laetitia Bonifait, DEA; Fatiha Chandad, PhD; Daniel Grenier, PhD Dr. Grenier Email: daniel.grenier@ greb.ulaval.ca ABSTRACT For some decades now, bacteria known as probiotics have been added to various foods because of their beneficial effects for human health. The mechanism of action of probiotics is related to their ability to compete with pathogenic microorganisms for adhesion sites, to antagonize these pathogens or to modulate the host’s immune response. The potential application of probiotics for oral health has recently attracted the attention of several teams of researchers. Although only a few clinical studies have been conducted so far, the results to date suggest that probiotics could be useful in preventing and treating oral infections, including dental caries, periodontal disease and halitosis. This article summarizes the currently available data on the potential benefits of probiotics for oral health. For citation purposes, the electronic version is the definitive version of this article: www.cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-75/issue-8/585.html ach day, every human being ingests a prove useful in addressing problems arising large number of living