A cross-sectional survey to determine Turkish dental patients’ probiotic knowledge, attitude, and consumption status

Introduction
Probiotics play a significant role in improving oral and dental health.

Objectives
This study aimed to determine the probiotic knowledge, attitude, and consumption status of Turkish adult patients, who underwent dental treatment at a dentistry faculty.

Material and methods
This cross-sectional study included 509 participants, 281 females, and 228 males, who were 18 years of age or older. A printed face-to-face survey consisting of 18 questions was administered to patients. For statistical analyses, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval.

Results
78.4% of the participants were familiar with probiotics, but only 45.6% of them correctly knew its definition. Females had more probiotic awareness than males. The most common source of information about probiotics was the Internet. 23.8% of all participants were probiotic consumers, and 47.1% of participants who consumed probiotics were university graduates. 43.8% of female participants and 29.8% of males stated to use probiotics for gastrointestinal diseases, but only 11.4% of females and 8.3% of males claimed to use probiotics to support oral flora. Most of the participants consumed homemade yogurt/ ayran as a naturally fermented food. According to the participants, the most beneficial form of probiotics for oral and dental health was using it in the form of sachets or drops and natural foods, such as yogurt.

Conclusions
More public education is required concerning the awareness and benefits for oral and dental health as well as consumption of probiotics to improve the general health of individuals, especially oral and dental health.