Figure 3

Significant but transient reduction in salivary mutans streptococci (MS) counts by probiotic intervention. The linear graph illustrates mean log counts of MS (open circles) and those of lactobacilli (LB; black circles) in the unit of cfu/ml (y-axis) in both probiotic (solid lines) and control (dotted lines) groups from four different periods of saliva collection (x-axis): T0, T3, T6 and T12. * = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001. Error bars represent standard errors (SE). The values of mean log MS and LB counts and (SE) are shown in the solid boxes for the probiotic group and in the dotted boxes for the control group in each period of saliva collection.