Patient-Reported Probiotic Use During Periodontal Therapy in Periodontitis

Overview

Most previous studies have evaluated standardized probiotic regimens as adjuncts to NSPT (Ausenda et al., 2023; Hardan et al., 2022; Mauriello et al., 2025). Less is known about how real-world probiotic product use during periodontal care relates simultaneously to clinical outcomes, OHRQoL and patient-level behavioral factors such as knowledge, acceptance, previous recommendation and product/form preferences. Therefore, the aim of this prospective observational study was to compare periodontal clinical and OHRQoL outcomes at 1 and 3 months after NSPT between patients with Stage III Grade B periodontitis who reported probiotic supplement or commercially labelled probiotic product use and those who reported no such use. A secondary aim was to evaluate whether pre-treatment probiotic knowledge/familiarity, attitudes, previous probiotic recommendation, acceptance profile and product/form preferences were associated with reported probiotic product use. This study hypothesized that reported probiotic product use during the NSPT period would be associated with lower short-term periodontal burden and better OHRQoL outcomes, and that pre-treatment probiotic familiarity and acceptance would be associated with reported use.

This study included 130 stage 3 grade b periodontitis patients, classified as self-reported probiotic product users or non-users (n = 65 each). Periodontitis was defined by detectable interdental CAL at two or more non-adjacent teeth. Stage III Grade B periodontitis was defined by interdental CAL ≥5 mm at the site of greatest loss, with grading based on a bone loss/age ratio of 0.25-1.00. All patients received routine non surgical periodontal therapy, including individualized oral hygiene instruction and supra- and subgingival mechanical debridement/root surface instrumentation where indicated. The study did not include an investigator-assigned probiotic intervention. No probiotic strain, dose, formulation, frequency, duration or adherence protocol was prescribed as part of the study. Group classification was based on self-reported use of probiotic supplements or commercially labelled probiotic products during active periodontal treatment and post-treatment follow-up. Patients who reported such use were classified as probiotic product users, whereas those reporting no probiotic supplement or commercially labelled probiotic product use during the same interval were classified as non-users. Traditional homemade fermented foods, including homemade yogurt, kefir, pickles, vinegar, sourdough products and boza, were recorded as dietary fermented-food habits when reported but were not used to define probiotic exposure because strain composition, colony-forming unit content, microbial viability, dose and consistency of intake could not be verified (FAO/WHO, 2002; Hill et al., 2014; Sahin, 2026). Therefore, the exposure represented self-reported real-world probiotic-labelled product use rather than standardized probiotic intake. Plaque index (PI), probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), sites with PPD ≥5 mm and the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) were recorded at baseline, 1 month and 3 months. Probiotic-related knowledge,attitudes and acceptance were assessed using questionnaires.