oral microbiome – Dr. Danenberg

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist
January 7, 2019 [printfriendly]

Your SMILE speaks volumes about YOU! In this article, I outline my five steps to assure a healthy smile.

Your smile shows your emotions and speaks about your health. Books have been written describing what your smile means. For example, if you search on Amazon[1], there are over 430 books written on the topic of a “Healthy Smile”.

Look at your smile in the mirror. Your smile is just a curtain that opens to your mouth. Raise the curtain, and on the other side of your lips is an environment that affects the teeth, the gums, the lips, the breath – even the entire body.

In health, this oral environment is in a state of balance. The huge community of living organisms in your mouth play a critical role in health as well as in disease.[2]^,[3]This community can affect the health of your beautiful smile.

The Science of a Healthy Mouth

A healthy oral microbiome is made up of viruses, fungi, archaea, protozoa, and bacteria. The far majority of this healthy garden of microbes is bacteria. Researchers have discovered over 700 different species of bacteria, which can make up a healthy oral microbiome. An individual on average may harbor 100-200 of these individual species of bacteria.

A healthy gut microbiome not only supports a strong immune system but also maintains a beneficial balance of these numerous types of living creatures in the mouth. In a balanced state, these oral microbes provide many functions that keep your mouth healthy. This garden of microbes prevents harmful bacteria from taking hold and causing disease. In addition, they help down-regulate pro-inflammatory responses to beneficial bacteria. The oral microbiome helps in the early digestion of food and supports the healthy production of nitric acid throughout your body.

The plaque around the teeth is a healthy biofilm of microbes that protects teeth and gum tissues. Dental plaque prevents pathological species from overgrowing, controls the proper acid level around the teeth, and allows beneficial nutrients to pass from the saliva to the tooth surface.

Saliva is another important element for a healthy mouth. A healthy flow of saliva washes away unhealthy clumps of bacteria and helps buffer a beneficial acid level.

The Science of an Unhealthy Mouth

When there is an overabundance of pathologic species of bacteria in the gut, the immune system is compromised, and the oral microbiome becomes disturbed and unbalanced. Specific foods can increase the acid level in the mouth and can provide sugars that feed pathologic species of bacteria. A decrease in saliva flow also can cause unhealthy growth of bacteria. Pathologic species in the mouth begin to overtake the healthy types of bacteria, and diseases can manifest. A change in the homeostasis of a healthy oral microbiome can begin the process of tooth decay, periodontal diseases, and soft tissue lesions.

Your smile eventually may be affected by an unhealthy mouth. Oral diseases can cause ulcers, cracks, and other lesions on the surface and corners of your lips.

5 Steps to a Healthy Smile

Practically speaking, there are ways to assure a healthy smile. A healthy and attractive smile depends on a healthy mouth. Here are five ideas to maintain a healthy smile:

Nutrient-rich diet: Exclude processed foods containing chemicals, added sugars, and unhealthy and unstable fats. Reduce or eliminate acid drinks like sodas. Include pastured and wild caught animal products, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.x
Proper airway space: Be sure your dentist is trained to evaluate your bite and the proper function of your tongue position for breathing and swallowing.x
Efficient oral hygiene: Brush efficiently at the gum line, clean between the surfaces of all teeth, and remove unhealthy clumps of bacteria on the surface of your tongue.[4]x
Strong and healthy gut bacteria: Support the quantity and quality of the gut microbiome by taking spore-based probiotics (ex: Megasporebiotic[5], Terraflora[6]) and prebiotic fiber foods (ex: Megaprebiotic[7], PaleoFiber[8]), which feed healthy gut bacteria.x
Biologically-oriented dental visits: Visit a dentist who understands the critical relationships of the gut, diet, lifestyle, and the health of your mouth.