Oral Probiotics on the Horizon: A Review

For the past few decades, bacteria known as probiotics have been added to food because of their beneficial effects on human health. Probiotics are a part of our daily food consumed as fermented foods with specially added active live cultures; such as in yogurt or as dietary supplements. Probiotics act by competing with pathogenic microorganisms for adhesion sites, antagonising these pathogens or by modulating the host's immune response. The potential application of probiotics for oral health has gradually garnered 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 the prevention and treatment of oral infections, including dental caries, periodontal disease and halitosis. This article briefly summarises the currently available data on the potential benefits of probiotics for oral health.