This study was to evaluate the effect of Streptococcus salivarius K12 on tongue coating–associated halitosis. Twenty-eight subjects having tongue coating–associated halitosis were randomly divided into either a test or control group. For each of the 30 days, the test subjects sucked S. salivarius K12 tablet while the control subjects sucked placebo tablets. All the subjects did not take physical (tongue scraping) and chemical (antiseptic mouth-rinse) oral cavity pretreatment prior to use of the tablets. At baseline, and on the 1st, 7th, and 14th day after completing the course of tablets, the subjects were assessed for their organoleptic test (OLT) scores, volatile sulfur compound (VSC) levels, and tongue coating scores (TCS). During the course, all subjects kept their routine oral care habits without scraping their tongue coating. Plaque index, probing depth, and bleeding index were recorded at baseline and at the completion of the trial. On the 1st day following the end of tablet use, the OLT scores and VSC levels had significantly decreased in the test group when compared with the baseline values (P = 0.001 and P = 0.012). The TCS in the test group were also significantly decreased (P = 0.05). At days 7 and 14, the OLT scores in the test group were still significantly lower than the baseline levels (P = 0.006 and P = 0.039 respectively). However, there were no statistical differences with OLT, VSC, and TCS between the test group and the placebo group by analysis of multi-level regression model. The use of S. salivarius K12 did not have significant effect on halitosis with tongue coating cause when the tongue coating was not physically or chemically pre-treated, which implies removing tongue coating is required before Streptococcus salivarius K12 use.

这项研究旨在评估唾液链球菌K12对舌苔相关口臭的作用。28名患有舌苔相关口臭的受试者被随机分为测试组或对照组。在30天的每一天中，测试对象都吸食唾液链球菌对照组受试者吸吮安慰剂片剂，同时服用K12片剂。在使用片剂之前，所有受试者均未进行物理（舌头刮擦）和化学（口腔消毒杀菌）口腔预处理。在基线以及完成药片疗程后的第1、7和14天，评估受试者的感官测试（OLT）评分，挥发性硫化合物（VSC）水平和舌苔评分（TCS）。在此过程中，所有受试者都保持了常规的口腔护理习惯，没有刮擦舌苔。在基线和试验结束时记录斑块指数，探查深度和出血指数。平板电脑使用结束后的第一天，与基线值相比，测试组的OLT得分和VSC水平显着降低（P = 0.001，P  = 0.012）。试验组的TCS也显着降低（P  = 0.05）。在第7天和第14天，测试组的OLT分数仍显着低于基线水平（ 分别为P  = 0.006和P = 0.039）。但是，通过多级回归模型的分析，测试组和安慰剂组之间的OLT，VSC和TCS没有统计学差异。当唾液链球菌未经过物理或化学预处理时，使用唾液链球菌K12对口臭没有明显的作用，这意味着在使用唾液链球菌K12之前需要去除舌苔。