Are probiotics useful for treating gum disease?

Created 16/12/2023.

We have been talking about probiotics and their benefits for a long time; but the truth is that when we hear their name we immediately relate them to the health of the digestive system and they are not only useful for that.

Doctors or dentists rarely explain to us that probiotics also play an important role in oral health and that they help to combat gum disease in a decisive way and make the side effects of antibiotic treatments less bothersome.

That’s right, there are oral probiotics whose mission is to protect the mouth, gums and teeth from those bacteria that damage the tissues and cause bad breath, tooth decay or even more serious diseases such as gingivitis or periodontitis.

In our dental clinics of IMOI Barcelona and IMOI Ibiza, we have been using probiotics for a long time to combat certain oral problems and, truly, all patients have improved with the treatment of photodynamic therapy and probiotics.

Oral probiotics act in a very similar way to probiotics intended for the digestive tract; they have the function of protecting and restoring the bacterial flora of the oral mucosa.

How do probiotics work in oral health?

The oral probioticsas well as the well-known probiotics intended for the digestive system, multiply good bacteria in your body, in this case in the mouth of the person who consumes them; they are usually recommended as a part of a treatment collaborator with the immune system which can be impaired by many situations, including taking medications such as antibiotics.

As we have already mentioned, oral probiotics serve to restore the bacterial flora of your mouth in general. A probiotic is a live microorganism that when ingested in sufficient quantity, occupies the locus -spaces that we have in our body to be occupied by bacteria- and thus causes an undeniable benefit in the person who ingests it, since it is not occupied by aggressive bacteria or, for example, by bacteria that produce bad breath.

Probiotics can be purchased without a prescription because they are not harmful to your health; however, it is always advisable to have your dentist’s approval in order to know which ones are indicated for your case, how often you should use them and also if you really need them.

They are easy to take: they generally come in the form of chewable tablets that must remain in your mouth for a few minutes for the active ingredients to disperse in the mouth and then adhere to the mucosa.

Why is it necessary to restore the flora of our mouth, teeth and gums?

Oral probiotics contain a huge amount of lactobacillus reuteriprodentis which acts as an allied agent for gum health.

This type of lactobacillus generates a colony of good bacteria in your mouth, which will “fight” to eliminate those bacteria that are harmful to your oral health, thus controlling gingivitis and periodontal infections, but we will talk about that a little later.

Similarly, oral probiotics prevent bacteria from migrating to other areas of our body and transferring infections from the mouth to vital organs.

If you are a person who uses your voice a lot for work, or perhaps you are a smoker, under stress or under some other type of pressure such as difficulty sleeping, it is recommended that you consume oral probiotics. By restoring balance in the mouth, you prevent many other diseases, such as those of the pharynx.

These probiotics are also used in the case of orthodontics but to a much greater extent when we are treating gum disease and we will talk about that below.

Probiotics in the treatment of gum disease.

The gums become diseased because there is an accumulation of plaque between the teeth and it progressively rises until it attacks the periodontal area.

The periodontium is the part that supports the tooth and joins it to the gum; in this connection a bridge of infection is created when there is not enough oral hygiene and when there is no care on the part of the patient towards problems that have presented early on.

There are warning signs that tell us that our gums are getting sick or already have a serious complication:

If we present one of these symptoms, it is almost a fact that harmful bacteria have colonized your mouth and made it sick.

Among the most common diseases are gingivitis and periodontitis, the latter being the consequence of poorly treated gingivitis.

When you come to your dentist with a problem of either gingivitis or periodontitis, it is necessary that he/she performs a thorough cleaning of the teeth and periodontium or even the gums themselves, in order to eliminate the greatest amount of bacteria that have accumulated.

The first thing to do is to know which bacteria are infecting you, for that a D.N.A. study of the saliva tells us which bacteria and in what quantity we have in our mouth, and also tells us which is the best combination of antibiotics to treat it.
Once we know which bacteria are present and which is the antibiotic we do a four-phase treatment, all of them in one day:
1. Prophylaxis and or scaling of the gums.
Treatment with photodynamic therapy.
3. Placement of probiotics in the gingival sulcus.
4. Antibiotic treatment.
Subsequently, this is where probiotics come in as part of the treatment to eradicate gum disease. They will act as an army full of good bacteria that will seek to eliminate the colonies that have depleted your oral health.

Its usefulness is basic and essential, but not decisive, to cure a disease such as gingivitis or periodontitis. Although it is of great help in achieving patient health, probiotics alone will not eradicate the disease.

That is why we ask you to go to your IMOI dental clinic for any indication that your gums are diseased, especially if you are suffering from halitosis (bad breath) or bleeding gums when biting or brushing your teeth. Thus, probiotics will be indicated as part of the treatment along with special medical procedures as appropriate.

As you can see, the use of probiotics is not only limited to the digestive system; they are also an important part of our oral health as an excellent ally to fight any colony of bacteria rooted in our gums.

Oral probiotics do not alter the sense of tasteThey do not damage or stain the teeth, so there are no contraindications that limit their use; however, they do not replace toothbrushing; however, you should coordinate with your dentist to know the frequency of use and whether you can use them as a method of preventing gum disease.

There are many options to have a healthy mouth, you just need to have the will to go constantly to medical checkups and prevent any health problem with proper oral hygiene and commitment to keep it that way most of the time.

At IMOI Barcelona and IMOI Ibiza, we follow editorial principles that guarantee the authenticity of all the information we disseminate. If you are interested in learning more about how we ensure that our content is always up-to-date and accurately supported, we invite you to review our editorial commitment.

This article has been supervised by Dr. Ferran Novell Costa and Dra. Erjona Demiraj, specialists in Dental Health and Dental Aesthetics treatments. Responsible for the treatments provided at IMOI Barcelona and IMOI Ibiza and for the supervision and/or updating of the contents of this blog entry. (7/11/2023). The recommendations described are not generic and do not replace the diagnosis and evaluation of a professional in a dental office. If you want us to clarify any aspect or you want a personalized diagnosis and advice we recommend you to come to our dental clinics.

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