Having bad breath can cause social issues, especially in personal and professional relationships. It is an embarrassing topic that is often not discussed, and some people may not realize they have bad breath because they are never told.
A review of the existing evidence suggests that the probiotic bacteria present in fermented foods like yoghurt, sourdough bread, and miso soup might help alleviate the stigma associated with persistent bad breath (halitosis), as reported in the online publication BMJ Open.
Taking supplements containing the bacteria Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus reuteri, Streptococcus salivarius, or Weissella cibaria may assist with bad breath, according to this study; nevertheless, further high-quality research is required.
Long-lasting bad breath is often brought on by volatile sulphur compounds. The bacteria in your mouth make these compounds when they mix with food particles and other bacteria, which happens when you don’t take care of your gums and teeth well.
Mouthwashes, gum, dental scaling, and tongue scraping are among the methods used to combat the issue. New information suggests that probiotic bacteria could be a simpler option.
To learn more about this and figure out how long these effects might last, researchers looked through research databases to find relevant randomised clinical trials that had been published up to February 2021.
Out of the 238 records that were found at first, duplicates and missing information cut the number of clinical trials that could be used for pooled data analysis to 7. These 7 trials involved a total of 278 people.
In each study, there were between 23 and 68 people who took part. Their ages ranged from 19 to 70. The monitoring intervals ranged from 2 to 12 weeks.
The OLP score, which evaluates breath smell at different distances from the mouth, and the concentration of volatile sulphuric compounds in the mouth were used to establish the severity of bad breath.
Tongue coating scores (three studies) and the plaque index (three studies) were also included in the study since a dirty tongue and tartar buildup between the teeth are often considered to be the main causes of bad breath.
The pooled data analysis revealed that the OLP scores of those receiving probiotics were considerably lower than those in the comparison study arms, regardless of the duration of the monitoring period.
The same thing happened when they looked at the levels of volatile sulphuric compounds. However, these levels varied a lot from one study to the next, and the effects were only seen for up to 4 weeks before they stopped being noticeable.
However, there were no significant variations in the plaque index or tongue coating score between those who received probiotics and those who did not.
The researchers speculate that probiotics may reduce smelly breath by preventing anaerobic bacteria in the mouth from breaking down amino acids and proteins.
However, the researchers caution that the results should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample sizes of the studies included, incomplete data, differences in detection methods, bacterial species, and variations in the design and methodology of the clinical trials, which all limit the strength of the conclusions.
Probiotics, such as Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus reuteri, Streptococcus salivarius, and Weissella cibaria, may temporarily improve halitosis by lowering concentrations of volatile sulphuric compounds, but they have no discernible impact on the major halitosis-causing factors, such as plaque and tongue coating, according to the authors.
“More high-quality randomised clinical trials are required in the future to verify the results and to provide evidence for the efficacy of probiotics in the management of halitosis,” they write.
Source: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-060753
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