Researchers may have found a way to harness beneficial bacteria such as probiotics to help prevent cavities in children.
Céline Lévesque, a professor in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Dentistry, and her team are using synbiotics - a mixture of probiotics and prebiotics that work together in the body's digestive tract - to address one of the main challenges in applying the health-promoting effects of beneficial bacteria on teeth: they don't remain in the mouth long enough to be effective.
Working with her project team and Professor Siew-Ging Gong, Lévesque has discovered that Streptococcus salivarius, a friendly bacterium naturally found in the mouth and also present in breast milk, can be used to create an effective synbiotic.
"We propose to develop a mixture comprising live probiotic bacteria and natural or synthetic food ingredients to modulate the microbiome to benefit the host," says Lévesque, who is also working with Professor Cynthia Yiu from the University of Hong Kong and Associate Professor Prasanna Neelakantan from the University of Alberta.
With support from the Canadian Institutions of Health Research, the team will test different materials to see which ones help beneficial bacteria grow. They'll also look at how these probiotics work in the body and conduct preclinical studies to explore what kinds of health benefits they might offer.
"Oral health is vital for basic functions like eating, speaking and breathing, yet oral diseases - especially dental caries - are the most widespread health conditions affecting humans," says Lévesque.
Dental cavities affect up to 90 per cent of school-aged children globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) , mainly due to frequent sugar consumption, which disrupts the natural balance of bacteria in the mouth. In addition, it's estimated there are more than 500 million children with untreated dental caries, otherwise known as tooth decay, which can cause daily pain, disrupt learning, speech development, impair chewing and ultimately affect emotional states.
"Children are particularly vulnerable - especially those in minority and economically disadvantaged communities," says Lévesque. "In many countries, the unequal distribution of oral health professionals and facilities makes it even harder for these communities to access care. Recognizing this urgent need, the World Health Organization has called for a shift from treating oral diseases to preventing them."
Lévesque says the team's research responds directly to this call. Rather than relying solely on traditional dental treatments - which are often unavailable or unaffordable in underserved communities - the project aims to offer a preventive strategy through the development of a probiotic-based solution that can be easily delivered through everyday foods like milk or yogurt.
The team is partnering with international organizations such as Yoba for Life , which empowers communities in resource-poor regions to produce probiotic yogurt.
"I feel incredibly fortunate to work alongside such a passionate and talented group of researchers," says Lévesque. "Our ultimate vision is advancing science to improve lives and bring healthier smiles worldwide - reducing the global burden of dental diseases, improving children's quality of life and supporting their growth, learning and well-being, regardless of where they live."
