Oral colonization of probiotics
While the use of probiotics for oral health is ever increasing, little is known on how long and where they are localized in the oral cavity. If the probiotic present longer in the oral cavity, it has more time to exert their effect than if it is washed away immediately. An additional consideration is whether a strain's origin of isolation (oral vs. non-oral) affects its ability to colonize and persist within oral niches. Moreover, colonization may not occur uniformly across individuals, suggesting host-specific or niche-specific barriers to adhesion. To explore these dynamics, the oral colonization of two commonly used probiotic strains was evaluated