Effects of Topical Application of IgY on Salivary Streptococcus mutans

Methods: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 32 healthy young adults; 16 as experimental subjects and 16 as control subjects. The study subjects used IgY containing tablets or placebo tablets 4 times daily for one week. The tablets were dissolved in the mouth and naturally swallowed. Stimulated whole saliva was collected at baseline and after the intervention. Salivary S. mutans counts were evaluated by real-time PCR.

Results: Salivary S. mutans levels in the experimental subjects were significantly reduced after the intervention with statistical significance (p<0.05). The ratio of the S.mutans per total streptococci in saliva tended to reduce, but the difference failed to reach statistical significance in comparison with the baseline data.

Conclusion: These results suggest that the effectiveness of IgY could be useful to control the colonization of mutans streptococci in the oral cavity of humans.