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Published on: March 31, 2021
Effectiveness and safety of Bifidobacterium in preventing dental caries: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Siyuan Hao1, Jiahe Wang1, Yan Wang1
1State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Department of Pediatric Dentistry, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P. R. China.
Objectives:
The effectiveness and safety of Bifidobacterium in dental caries prevention are controversial. Thus, we performed this systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the preventive value of Bifidobacterium.
Methods:
Eligible studies were identified from several databases, including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus. Hand searches were also conducted in relevant bibliographies. We then extracted and pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) and risk ratio (RR) to analyze the anti-caries effect of Bifidobacterium with Stata 16.0 software. If the data obtained was not suitable for meta-analysis, qualitative descriptions were performed.
Results:
Compared with the placebo control group, there was no statistically significant reduction in Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli counts in saliva in the test group. Also, there were no significant differences in Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus counts in dental plaque and no significant difference in caries incidence in deciduous teeth. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the Bifidobacterium and control groups.
Conclusions:
Available evidence demonstrates that Bifidobacterium is neither effective in reducing Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus counts in the saliva or dental plaque nor in reducing the occurrence of caries in deciduous teeth. Evaluation of its safety requires further investigations. Therefore, Bifidobacterium is not a competent probiotic candidate to prevent dental caries.
