ORAL CARE INSIGHTS

The oral cavity has the second largest and diverse microbiome after the gut and its microorganism composition has an important role in diverse healthy and diseased conditions. In fact, the oral microbiome is not only the initiation point of digestion, but it is also crucial in maintaining oral and systemic health. For this reason, when using oral hygiene products, we must take into consideration their possible effect on the oral microbiome/microbiota.

The following abstracts illustrate the most recent studies on the impact of oral care treatments on the oral microbiome/microbiota. The first two abstracts analyse the microbiome composition of healthy individuals undergoing an oral care routine. In the specific, the first study investigates the use of stannous ions containing products, that are often employed as preventive measure for dental erosion, and shows that, after three years of stannous ions use, the salivary microbiota composition can be associated to a healthy one. In the second study, oral care tablets containing kiwifruit powder are presented as a useful daily oral care product in reducing volatile sulphur compounds and bacteria content associated to diseases.
Finally, the last study shows that supplementation with inorganic NO³– can reduce periodontitis-associated bacteria and the pathogenic genus related to insulin resistance/glucose intolerance, therefore acting as potential prebiotic for oral microbiota dysbiosis associated with type 2 diabetes.

Scientific online resources as Pubmed and Google Scholar were used to retrieve articles of interest. To screen for the most advanced research, articles were selected between the years 2020 and 2022 with the following keywords: oral care, oral microbiome, oral microbiota.