Probiotics in periodontal health and disease

Abstract

Macfarlane Burnett stated in 1962 that “By the late twentieth century, we can anticipate the virtual elimination of infectious diseases as a significant factor in social life”. Probiotics have become of interest to researchers in recent times. Time has come to shift the paradigm of treatment from specific bacteria elimination to altering bacterial ecology by probiotics. The development of resistance to a range of antibiotics by some important pathogens has raised the possibility of a return to the pre-antibiotic dark ages. Here, probiotics provide an effective alternative way, which is economical and natural to combat periodontal disease. Thus, a mere change in diet by including probiotic foods may halt, retard, or even significantly delay the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases, promoting a healthy lifestyle to fight periodontal infections.