Probiotics vs. antimicrobial agents in periodontal disease

Probiotics may be effective adjuncts to nonsurgical periodontal therapy in patients with periodontal disease.

Treatment for periodontal disease often involves scaling, root planning, patient education and regular monitoring. With the worsening of antimicrobial resistance, probiotics are more frequently being utilized as alternatives to antimicrobial agents in this patient population.

In a systematic review published in Oral Diseases, investigators used the PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, EBSCO, Cochrane and Clinical Trial Registry databases to identify 10 clinical studies comparing the efficacy of probiotics with antimicrobial agents in patients with gingivitis and periodontitis.

Compared with antimicrobial agents, the investigators found that probiotics were more effective at reducing probing pocket depth and clinical attachment loss. However, antimicrobial agents demonstrated a greater improvement of the plaque index and gingival index compared with probiotics. Further, combined treatment with probiotics and antimicrobial agents was more effective vs probiotic or antimicrobial treatment alone at managing all four factors.

The findings indicated that probiotics may be used as an alternative to antimicrobial agents, but clinicians should consider combination treatments in patients with periodontal disease.

Read more: Oral Diseases

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