Clinical outcomes using prebiotic and probiotic lozenges in non-surgical management of chronic periodontitis patients

Abstract

Non-surgical therapy primarily reduces the number of pathogens. However, recolonization occurs rapidly. In this context, the administration of beneficial bacteria in the form of prebiotic & probiotics lozenges has emerged as a promising therapeutic option in the prevention and treatment of periodontal diseases. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of combined prebiotic and probiotic lozenges as an adjunct to non-surgical therapy in chronic periodontitis patients and to correlate the clinical parameters between both the groups. 30 systemically healthy patients aged 20-55 years diagnosed with chronic periodontitis patients were randomly recruited. Test group (15 subjects) received non-surgical therapy and pre & probiotic lozenges twice daily for 21 days, whereas the control group (15 subjects) received only non-surgical therapy. Clinical parameters were recorded at base line (BI), 3 and 6 weeks follow up period. Repeated measures anova analysis was used for measuring test and control group, independent sample t test was used for measuring between both groups. Both the groups demonstrated significant reduction (p < 0.05) in clinical parameters from baseline to 3 weeks. BI slightly increased from 3 weeks to 6 weeks and all the other clinical parameters remained same from 3 weeks to 6 weeks in both the groups. No statistically significant difference was observed when compared between test and control groups from 3 weeks and 6 weeks. Within the limitations of the study it can be concluded that Combined use of prebiotic and probiotic lozenges as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) demonstrated significant improvement in clinical parameters when compared to mechanical debridement alone.