Probiotic Use in Endodontic Therapy

Lactobacillus has been shown to promote health in the intestines as well as to inhibit the growth of certain problematic oral bacteria. This study explores shifting the established paradigm of endodontic treatment which has been focused on eliminating all bacteria from the canal system to focus on eliminating the problematic bacteria through introducing probiotics. The purpose of this study was to investigate if Lactobacillus has an inhibitory effect on the growth of Enterococcus faecalis. Methods: Lactobacillus was grown in Rogosa media and inoculated on a petri dish of Rogosa agar on two isolated sections and left to grow anaerobically. Enterococcus faecalis was grown in BHI broth and mixed into BHI agar. An agar overlay technique was used where the liquid agar laced with Enterococcus faecalis was poured over the Lactobacillus Rogosa plates. Results: After further anaerobic incubation, it was observed that the Enterococcus faecalis grew throughout the span of the petri dish including the areas where the Lactobacillus was growing. This result did not support our hypothesis that Lactobacillus would have an inhibitory effect on the growth of Enterococcus faecalis. Further study using other known probiotics should be considered.