Not just bad breath! Your Oral Microbiome is HEALTH-CRITICAL

Focus on…

How the bugs in your mouth affect your health [and what to do about it]

This matters, because…

Bad mouth bugs [oral dysbiosis] can cause major problems: and it is a ‘fixable’ issue.

Yes, if you have this your breath may be bad and you may be un-kissable but there are more serious issues at stake!

How it works

When the mouth contains bad bacteria, these bugs are swallowed and influence the population [microbiome] that live in your gut: the result – increased inflammation.

Where there is gum disease [pockets or recession at the gum margin sometimes with bleeding] this allows bugs into the blood stream with access to the brain and heart

It is shocking, but this change in your mouth has profound health changes, such as:

Inflammation

When the bad gut microbiome secretes inflammatory chemicals, these cause damage to the protective lining of the inside of the gut making the gut ‘leaky’. The chemicals get into the bloodstream and cause inflammation at other sites. The 3 main inflammatory events are:

1. Becoming overweight and developing insulin resistance. This major metabolic change adversely effects blood pressure and lipid patterns and is pre-diabetic.
2. Rheumatoid arthritis: this is a strong association. There is also a link to other connective tissue disorders, eg Sjogren's syndrome and systemic lupus erythematosus. [1]
3. Cancer promotion:  Oral dysbiosis is connected to tumours of the gastrointestinal tract ie oesophageal, gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers. [2]

Cardiovascular Disease

Oral bacteria in the blood stream affect the heart. Validated links connect oral dysbiosis with coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, heart failure, infective endocarditis and rheumatic heart disease. [3]

Alzheimer’s Disease [AD]

There is an increase in AD in individuals with oral dysbiosis and particularly when there is active gum disease. Oral bacteria have been found in the brains of AD suffers. Some researchers believe that bacterial entry via the mouth [or sometimes the gut] is the mechanism, others that it is the inflammatory process the bacteria trigger. The link, however, is irrefutable. [4]

Irritable Bowel Syndrome [IBS]

Until now the focus in IBS has been to blame the constituents of the diet [FODMAPs – if you have IBS you know what these are & if you don’t then you don’t need to know],

What good looks like…

The basic steps are simple: the fundamental dental care advice that you may be ignoring, the hygienist appointments that may seem a luxury. 

1. Brush for 2-3 minutes twice daily and use an electric toothbrush [yes it makes a big difference]. 
2. Understand that the brushing is really for the gum margin not to polish the enamel. 
3. Use a fluoride tooth paste [if you thought fluoride was conspiracy you wouldn’t have got this far].
4. Clean in-between your teeth as well as the front and back. The best way is an interdental brush rather than floss or sticks. You may need two different sizes to cover all the gaps. The shops usually have a limited range, mostly small sizes. They are colour coded for the size in millimetres. A yellow or green is where to start – if you have big gaps and like me. need a purple, or small gaps and need a red etc then you may need to order through your dentist or online. It is cheaper to buy in bulk. You can use them several times [just wash in water] until they have lost their bounce. After every meal is the deal and alongside your morning and nightime brush. For mouthwash and choice of toothpaste see below.
5. It is worth seeing a dental hygienist twice a year, they will identify where your own efforts are lacking and clean up thoroughly.  The problem in the UK is that there is no actual NHS service and getting access to a hygienist may involve you in a health-check cost for the dentist as well. However, that only needs to be once a year or even 18 months, the hygienist is doing the heavy lifting.

Fixing your oral microbiome

Fortunately this is really simple: food for the bugs and putting the right bugs in there!

1. Food for the bugs means arginine, an amino acid [one of the building blocks of protein]. For other reasons Colgate created a toothpaste for sensitive teeth which is arginine based. That is your go-to.
2. The bugs are a combination of favourable bacteria. In the UK/ USA that is Luvbiotics [Amazon or directly from the company].

Where are you on this?

Are you at ground zero, [none of the above]; on the launch pad [some of the above] or do we have lift off?

These are pain-free simple steps so start now!

What people tell me is difficult/ stops them succeeding

Why didn’t someone tell me?

What should you do now?

Check through the above again and get to it.

References

 1. Bellando-Randone S, Russo E, Venerito V, Matucci-Cerinic M, Iannone F, Tangaro S, Amedei A. Exploring the Oral Microbiome in Rheumatic Diseases, State of Art and Future Prospective in Personalized Medicine with an AI Approach. J Pers Med. 2021 Jun 30;11(7):625. doi: 10.3390/jpm11070625. PMID: 34209167; PMCID: PMC8306274.

  2. Kuominen, H. & Rautava, J. Oral microbiota and cancer development. Pathobiology 88, 116–126 (2021).

  3. Tonelli A, Lumngwena EN, Ntusi NAB. The oral microbiome in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2023 Jun;20(6):386-403. doi: 10.1038/s41569-022-00825-3. Epub 2023 Jan 9. PMID: 36624275.

  4. Borsa L, Dubois M, Sacco G, Lupi L. Analysis the Link between Periodontal Diseases and Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 3;18(17):9312. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18179312. PMID: 34501899; PMCID: PMC8430572.