Support Your Oral Health to Benefit Your Whole Body

How often do you stop to consider how your oral health may be affecting your overall health?

In this blog we’ll dive into the world of your mouth. You’ll learn about the complex community of microbes living there and how they can influence your health.

What is The Oral Microbiome?

This often-overlooked community of bacteria, viruses, and fungi naturally lives in your mouth. They inhabit the surfaces of your teeth, gums, tongue, and the inside of your cheeks. Your saliva is packed full of these bacteria. Your oral microbiome is the little sibling of your gut microbiome, and it influences and is affected by what happens in your gut.

The types of bacteria in your oral microbiome are similar to those found in your gut microbiome, but not identical. As the entry to your digestive tract, your oral microbiome assists with the initial stages of digestion.

What are the Signs of an Unhealthy Oral Microbiome?

In a healthy body, friendly microbes would keep any pathogenic bacteria in check. However, if this bacterial community becomes skewed towards disease-producing species, the outcome can be gingivitis, gum disease, and dental caries. This is because pathogenic bacteria produce acids when they feed on sugars and carbohydrates. These acids attack and weaken the protective enamel covering the surface of the teeth.

The inflammation created by these bacteria can lead to gum disease.

Therefore, if you experience bleeding gums, sensitive teeth, or gingivitis, these can be signs of a disordered oral microbiome. Bad breath is caused by gases produced by errant bacteria in your mouth.

How Can Dysbiosis of the Oral Microbiome Affect Overall Health?

When you swallow food or saliva, microbes from your mouth migrate down into your gut and influence conditions there. On the other hand, oral bacteria can easily access your bloodstream, travelling around your body. A disordered oral microbiome has been linked to a number of health conditions.

Cardiovascular Disease

One particular species of disease-producing bacterium found in the mouth, called P. gingivalis, is a key player in gum disease. This microbe seems to increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (1). It can cause inflammation of the heart valves and the surrounding blood vessels. It is tolerant of acid conditions, so can survive the stomach acid and reach the intestines. Once there, it may cause dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiome, and widespread inflammation. Scientists have discovered other pathogenic bacteria found in the mouth living within plaques inside the arteries (2).

Poor oral health is also connected with atrial fibrillation, disordered cholesterol levels, and obesity.

Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune issues like rheumatoid arthritis are linked to dysbiosis of the oral microbiome (3). If pathogenic bacteria from the mouth reach the gut, they can provoke the immune system into producing inflammatory molecules.

Brain Health

Your mouth and your brain are closely connected. Pathogenic bacteria in the mouth can influence brain health by crossing the barrier between the blood and the brain and creating inflammation there. The sneaky P. gingivalis, already implicated in poor heart health, has been found in the brain. It’s thought this bacterium may promote the formation of misfolded proteins, a key factor in Alzheimer’s disease (4). Other pathogenic bacteria, including the inflammation-provoking F. nucleatum, known to cause gum disease, are linked with Alzheimer’s, too.

How to Nurture Your Oral Health

All this means the key to good health may lie in your mouth.

Dental plaque is a sticky substance, an accumulation of saliva and food particles, containing millions of bacteria. If it’s allowed to build up on your teeth, it can cause gum disease and dental cavities. Therefore, brushing and flossing at least twice daily to prevent plaque formation can help keep pathogenic bacteria at bay.
Mouthwashes containing anti-bacterial chemicals and alcohol will by their nature kill off all bacteria, both good and bad. Choose an alcohol-free mouthwash based on natural ingredients.
Consuming plenty of plant foods will not only feed beneficial bacteria but help naturally clean teeth and gums, too. Avoiding sugar and refined carbs, which feed disease-causing bacteria, can help encourage healthy bacteria to thrive.
Cut back on acidic drinks like fruit juices because pathogenic bacteria thrive in an acidic environment.
The antioxidant co-enzyme Q10 can help control gum inflammation (5). Your body naturally makes this substance for you, but you produce less as you age. Therefore, a supplement of co-enzyme Q10 may be beneficial if you are experiencing poor oral health.
Vitamin C is crucial for good gum health.
Smoking and alcohol adversely affect your oral microbiome.

Integrative Medicine Support for Optimal Oral Health

Because your oral microbiome and your gut microbiome are so closely linked, if you want to look after your mouth, you need to consider your gut, too. In fact, no one part of your body works in isolation, so it’s crucial to look at your body as a connected whole.

Here at the Forbes Clinic, we aim to discover the root causes of ill-health. This means diving down into what’s happening within your body to create your adverse symptoms. We offer expert-led testing to evaluate the health of your gut microbiome, supported by practitioner interpretation.

If you feel your oral health might be the missing piece in the jigsaw of your optimal health journey, we’re here to help. Start your personalised health programme today by booking an Integrative Health Assessment.