Inhibitory and preventive effects of FB-T9 on dental caries in rats.

is recognized as the main cause of dental caries, and the formation of a plaque biofilm is required for caries development. This study aimed to determine the inhibitory effect of FB-T9 on biofilm formation and on the prevention and treatment of dental caries in rats. During experiments, FB-T9 exhibited good bacteriostatic ability in a plate competition assay. This strain also significantly reduced the biomass and viability of biofilms and induced structural damage during the early (6 h), middle (12 h) and late (24 h) stages of biofilm formation. In a 70-day experiment, FB-T9 significantly reduced the levels of on the dental surfaces of rats by more than 2 orders of magnitude of the levels in the dental caries model group (p < 0.05). Moreover, FB-T9 significantly reduced the caries scores (modified Keyes scoring method) in both the prevention and treatment groups (p < 0.05) and had great colonization potential in the oral cavity. These results indicate the potential usefulness of FB-T9 as a probiotic for the prevention and treatment of caries.