ABSTRACT
Objectives: We aim to assess the antibacterial effectiveness of probiotic cleaning in a dental
clinic at the University Dental Hospital Sharjah (UDHS), UAE. Materials and Methods: The current cleaning protocol of UDHS was evaluated by the surface swabbing of three
dental clinics routinely cleaned using regular chemical disinfectants. Then, a new
probiotic cleaning solution containing Bacillus subtilis was applied for 3 weeks in a selected clinic. Bacteria were grown onto selective
culture media for colony counting from surfaces cleaned with probiotic solution compared
to those obtained from the same surfaces cleaned with the regular chemical solutions.
Isolates identity was confirmed by biochemical tests or polymerase chain reaction.
Results: There was a significant reduction of the bacterial counts of various bacterial species
(Staphylococci, Streptococci, and Gram-negative rods) from almost all the surfaces in the dental clinic after
the application of the probiotic solution compared to the same surfaces cleaned with
the regular chemical solutions. However, the antibiotic resistance rates were not
significantly reduced within the short period of 3 weeks of using the new probiotic
cleaning product. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the use of probiotic cleaning is effective in reducing
microbial growth in dental settings. This approach may be tested further to examine
the long-term effect and to evaluate the opportunity of applying this novel biotechnology
as part of the infection control routine in dental settings instead of the chemical
disinfectants which are known to cause serious health problems. This is the first
study testing the application of probiotic-based solution in dental settings.
Key words:
Bacillus subtilis
- dental settings - disinfection - infection control - probiotic
