Awareness, knowledge and attitude about probiotics among pediatric dentist’s in chennai

Probiotics are a valuable adjunct for the prevention of oral diseases. These are dietary supplements containing potentially beneficial bacteria or yeast. Probiotics have come to play a vital role in the shift of paradigm of treatment from the age old practice of specific bacteria elimination, to alteration of bacterial ecology. Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the awareness, knowledge and attitude about probiotics among pediatric dentists in Chennai. Material and Methods: This study recruited pediatric dentists (n=51) in Chennai city. The subjects completed a questionnaire that aimed to assess the awareness, knowledge and attitude about probiotics through online survey. The collected data were summarized in the MS Excel and subjected to statistical evaluation using SPSS. Results: 88.2% of the pediatric dentists were aware of the use of probiotic in dentistry while 58.8% willing to prescribe it to their patients in that 20.8% will do to reduce the incidence of dental caries. Commonly prescribed probiotics formulation was 41.2% milk products and least was 3.9% drops. 80.4% were not aware about probiotic side effects. Conclusion: Therefore, this study revealed awareness about probiotics among pediatric dentists was moderate. Though beneficial, lack of adequate knowledge regarding probiotics limited its usage among pediatric dentists in Chennai.