Anti‐caries Streptococcus spp.: A potential preventive tool for special needs patients

INTRODUCTION: Probiotics are living microorganisms that act on the host-microbiome interface to restore the microbiota's physiological homeostasis. Numerous probiotics have been marketed with inhibitory activity against Streptococcus mutans and consequently with a potential anti-caries effect, mainly of the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, whose main disadvantage is their limited ability to settle in the oral cavity. METHODS: This narrative review describes the main Streptococcus spp. with probiotic anti-Streptococcus mutans activity, whose substantivity is greater than that of Lactobacillus spp. and consequently with anti-caries potentiality. We performed a literature review in the PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar databases of articles published in English (without time restriction) related to caries and probiotics. RESULTS: The potential identified anti-caries probiotics included Streptococcus spp. A12, Streptococcus oralis (AJ3), Streptococcus oligofermentans, Streptococcus salivarius (K12, M18, JH, LAB813, 24SMB), Streptococcus spp. with arginolytic activity (S. sanguinis, S. gordonii, S. ratti, S. parasanguinis, S. intermedius, S. australis, and S. cristatus), Streptococcus rattus (JH145), Streptococcus dentisani and Streptococcus downii. CONCLUSIONS: The possibility of using these Streptococcus spp. as probiotics that inhibit the growth of dental plaque and the development of carious lesions represents a potential tool of particular interest for individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities that impede the routine and effective application of mechanical dental plaque removal techniques.