Lactobacillus reuteri containing Probiotic Lozenges Consumption Reduces Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in Orthodontic Patients

Objective of this study is to investigate the effect of daily consumption of Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 55730 containing probiotic lozenges on salivary Streptococcus mutans serotype c, Streptococcus sobrinus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans number, in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment with fixed appliance. Saliva subject collected before and two weeks after daily probiotic consumption. S. mutans serotype c, S. sobrinus, P. gingivalis ATCC 33277, and A. actinomycetemcomitans ATCC 29522 were cultured in BHI-broth (anaerobic-condition). After 48-h incubation, the number of colonies on each dilution plate were used to extrapolate a standard curve. Bacterial DNA were extracted using heat-shock method. Subsequently, quantitative Real-Time PCR method was applied to analyse the number of S. mutans serotype c, S. sobrinus, P. gingivalis, and A. actinomycetemcomitans in saliva. Total number of DNA target were identified using SYBR Green (Applied Biosystem) and 16S rRNA gene specific primers for each bacterium tested. The research results showed that there was significant difference in the average scores of S. mutans serotype, S. sobrinus, P. gingivalis, and A. actinomycetemcomitans before probiotic consumption compared to two weeks after probiotic consumption. The results show that probiotic L. reuteri ATCC-55730 brought a statistically significant reduction of S. mutans serotype c, S. sobrinus, P. gingivalis, and A. actinomycetemcomitans after two weeks consumption of probiotic in fixed orthodontic patients (P < 0.05). It is concluded that L. reuteri ATCC 55730-containing probiotic lozenges consumption reduces the number of S. mutans serotype c, S. sobrinus, P. gingivalis, and A. actinomycetemcomitans in saliva subjects during fixed orthodontic appliances.