Systemic consumption of probiotic curd and use of probiotic toothpaste to reduce Streptococcus mutans in plaque around orthodontic brackets

Introduction: The objectives of the study were to evaluate and compare the effects of the systemic consumption of probiotic curd and the topical application of probiotic toothpaste on the Streptococcus mutans levels in the plaque of orthodontic patients. Methods: The study consisted of 60 orthodontic patients divided into 3 groups of 20 each. Group 1 was the control group. The patients in group 2 were given probiotic curd, and those in group 3 were asked to brush twice daily with probiotic toothpaste (GD toothpaste; Dental Asia Manufacturing, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia). Samples were collected at 2 times: before the study began and after 30 days. Plaque specimens were collected from the labial surfaces immediately surrounding the orthodontic brackets of the maxillary lateral incisors using a 4-pass technique. The presence of S mutans was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Statistical analysis was performed, and comparisons were made using a 2-tailed chi-square test for categorical data (P <0.05). Results: At the end of the study, there were reductions in S mutans concentration in groups 2 and 3 that were statistically significant compared with group 1, but there was no statistically significant difference between groups 2 and 3. Conclusions: The consumption of probiotic curd and the use of probiotic toothpaste cause a significant decrease in the S mutans levels in the plaque around brackets in orthodontic patients. Although the probiotic toothpaste was more effective than systemic consumption, this was not statistically significant.