Probiotics may help improve oral health in cleft lip and palate orthodontic patients, according to a new study in the Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal (May 2014, Vol. 51:3, pp. 257-263). This study is potentially significant because these patients often have a higher incidence of caries and poor oral hygiene.
The study included 30 adolescents with cleft lip and palate and analyzed the effects of probiotics on their oral health. Fifteen subjects in the intervention group drank a probiotic milk powder containing Lactobacillus paracasei SD1 for four weeks, while the other 15 subjects in the control group were given milk without a probiotic. Levels of salivary mutans streptococci and lactobacilli were measured at the start of the study and once a week for four weeks after use of the probiotic concluded.
Counts of mutans streptococci were significantly reduced among the patients who used the probiotic. Likewise, the good bacteria, lactobacilli, showed significant increases among the intervention group. In addition, L. paracasei SD1 were still detected up to four weeks after active usage of the probiotic.
For adolescents with cleft lip and palate, orthodontic treatment is usually necessary because of irregularities in tooth size, teeth malalignment, or skeletal abnormalities. However, fixed and removable orthodontic appliances that help correct problems also facilitate the colonization of bacteria such as mutans streptococci.
The L. paracasei SD1 milk powder appeared to successfully colonize the oral cavity among this group of orthodontically treated cleft lip and palate patients. It was found to be safe and effective for oral use. Further long-term study of its beneficial effects should be undertaken, according to the researchers
