Introduction Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by pathologic microorganisms/periopathogens from oral biofilm. Standard periodontal therapy consists of scaling and root planing (SRP). Probiotics can be used
as an adjunctive to standard periodontal therapy, since it is known that probiotics can modify pathogenic potential
of biofilm by suppressing the colonization of periopathogens.
The aim of this study was to assess the clinical effect of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus probiotic lozenges, probiotic
mouthwash, as an adjuvant to SRP in the treatment of initial to moderate chronic periodontitis.
Material and methods Thirty patients with initial to moderate chronic periodontitis were recruited and monitored
clinically at baseline (before SRP) and 60 days following SRP. All patients were randomly assigned to experimental group:
SRP + probiotic (n = 15) and control group: SRP only (n = 15). The probiotic mouthwash was used twice a day for 60
days. Clinical parameters: the probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and bleeding on probing
(BOP) were measured at baseline and 60th day following SRP. Data were statistically analyzed using the one-way Anova
test and SPSS 19 software (IMB Company, New York, U.S.). The Friedman and Mann Whitney tests were used as a post
hoc test for intergroup analysis. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.
Results After 60 days of treatment, the clinical parameters PPD, CAL and BOP were significantly lower in both groups
compared to the baseline. In the experimental group, the clinical parameters PPD, CAL and BOP were significantly
reduced after 60 days of treatment compared to the initial measurements (p 0.05).
Conclusion The results of the present study demonstrated clinical benefits of adjunctive use of probiotics to SRP in
terms of pocket depth reduction in initial to moderate periodontal disease.
