Effects of probiotics on oral Salivary mutans streptococci level by using Real-Time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Park Hae-Ryoung* Assistant Professor, Division of Liberal Arts and Teacher Training, Kwangju Women's University, South Korea *Corresponding Author: Hae-Ryoung Park Assistant Professor, Division of Liberal Arts and Teacher Training, Kwangju Women's University, South Korea, E-mail: hrpark@kwu.ac.kr
Online published on 16 October, 2018. Abstract This study aims to assess dental caries-causing Streptococcus mutans suppression by probiotics diet by monitoring their counts with real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Subjects were selected through questionnaire survey after going through purpose and scope of this study, after reaching an agreement on personal information disclosure. Adult women subjects of 20–25 ages were instructed to consume a probiotics (108 CFU/capsule) every day for 4 weeks. Saliva was collected at 0, 2, and 4 weeks of diet and at 2 and 4 weeks of post-diet (6 and 8 weeks since the start), and used for real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) to measure Streptococcus mutans counts with specific primers and probes. All statistical analysis for this study was within a significance level of 0.05 and the software was SPSS Version 21.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., USA). Salivary mutans streptococci counts in the probiotics diet test group (A group) significantly decreased (p < 0.05) during the 4 weeks of diet, indicating a reduced probability of dental caries by probiotics diet. Also, its effects continued during the post-probiotics diet period, compared to the placebo group (B group) (p < 0.05). This study enlightens a significance of estimating S. mutans counts within a short period of time by harnessing a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. Through development of oral probiotics suppressing S. mutans biofilm formation, a new and effective method to prevent periodontitis were sought out. Top Keywords Biofilm, Dental caries, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Salivary mutans streptococci, Probiotics. Top |