Young Scientist Case Study: Inhalers can lead to tooth decay

Frequent use of steroid inhalers to treat asthma reduces the natural bacteria in the mouth and can lead to tooth decay.

That is what three students from Cork found when they swabbed asthmatic pupils in their school and recorded the frequency of their inhaler use.

The second-year students from Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co Cork, focused on lactobacillus as an indicator of the effects that inhalers for asthma have on the mouth.