Are you someone who’s proactive about their health and strives to achieve the best levels of functioning?
Well, it may or may not surprise you to hear that health starts with your mouth!
That’s right, your physical health and wellbeing is significantly impacted by the state of your oral health.
So, how can we increase our oral health? Well, the best way is through ensuring you have sufficient levels of good bacteria in your mouth.
In this article, we’ll guide you through understanding the oral microbiome present in your mouth, as well as giving you specific tips on how to restore your good bacteria for optimal health.
Let’s get straight into it!
Understanding the Oral Microbiome
So what exactly are the microbiomes that live in your mouth?
When we refer to oral microbiomes, we’re talking about the host of bacteria that live in your mouth.
Believe it or not, the mouth holds the second largest number of bacteria in your body, after the gut.
These bacteria live on all surfaces of the mouth including the teeth, inner cheeks, tongue, tonsils, and palate. Some of these bacteria are common to all individuals, but many bacteria vary amongst individuals.
The effect of the oral microbiome on overall health
So, why is oral bacteria important?
Your mouth contains both good and bad bacteria, and when there is an imbalance of these this is referred to as dysbiosis.
When there is dysbiosis in the mouth this can affect the whole health of your body, leading to diseases such as Alzheimers and atherosclerosis just to name a few.
The effect of the oral microbiome on oral health
The bacteria in your mouth are also responsible for the health of your oral cavity.
A disproportionate amount of bad bacteria in your mouth can lead to cavities, gingivitis, and periodontal disease.
This is because the bacteria create acids that cause small holes in the outer layer of the tooth called the enamel. An unbalanced oral bacterial population can impair your body's defenses and prevent your white blood cells from eliminating pathogens.
Your gums may get inflamed by those bacteria. In turn, this inflammation releases chemicals that promote the growth of harmful microorganisms. More bacteria cause your gums to become inflamed and begin to erode the bone that supports your teeth can lead to permanent damage to the teeth and underlying bone.
However, good bacteria in the mouth have the opposite effect and protect your teeth and gums from damage.
Tips on Restoring Good Bacteria
Now that we understand exactly what the microbiomes in the oral cavity are and how they affect overall oral and physical health, it’s clear that the goal is to increase the amount of good bacteria in your mouth!
So, how do we do this?
The good news is that there are a host of things you can do to help good bacteria flourish in your mouth. In this section, we’ll look at each of these points in detail:
Adopting a Balanced Probiotic-Rich Diet
In order to increase the amount of good bacteria in your mouth, one step you can take is to ensure you are eating a large amount of probiotic-rich foods. These include foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, natto, kimchi, miso, and yogurt.
Essentially any fermented food is full of probiotics, and a variety of different fermented foods can be found across a wide range of cultures across the world.
A great tip is to switch dairy products in your diet to fermented varieties such as kefir to help reduce the acidity level in the mouth from bad bacteria.
In addition, to help good bacteria grow, you can also increase the amount of prebiotic foods that you eat which will provide bacteria with nourishment to grow.
Great prebiotic foods include cocoa, leafy vegetables, garlic, and onions, as well as various fruits.
Consider Probiotic Supplements
In addition to ingesting probiotics through diet, there is also the option of using supplements to boost your probiotic intake.
There is considerable evidence that probiotic supplements can help a myriad of oral hygiene issues such as bad breath, plaque, fight gum disease, and even prevent oral cancer.
It’s therefore not a bad idea to consider adding these supplements to your daily routine.
Oral Hygiene Habits
Besides making additions to your diet and supplements, it would be remiss not to discuss the importance of basic oral hygiene habits!
Brushing and flossing teeth regularly is essential to remove bad bacteria that build up during the day.
Dental professionals recommend brushing and flossing at least twice a day to maintain optimal dental health.
It’s worth noting that the products you use in your daily life for your oral health will make all the difference.
It’s always worthwhile investing in a good quality toothbrush that will ensure thorough brushing, and get to all those hard-to-reach places.
In addition, studies show that water flossers remove more plaque than regular string floss. Therefore, it may be worthwhile investing in a good quality water flosser if you want the best clean possible.
The question of whether or not to use mouthwash is a hotly debated one – and rightly so. While giving you minty fresh breath, unfortunately, most mouthwashes succeed in killing good bacteria as well as bad bacteria.
Anti-microbial mouthwashes should not be used excessively as they can disrupt the oral microbiota by eliminating both beneficial and harmful microorganisms. Apply mouthwashes that contain prebiotics to target particular microorganisms.
As a result, look for a mouthwash that gets rid of the bad bacteria while promoting the good bacteria: a winning combo!
Stay Hydrated
Believe it or not, one of the biggest risk factors for the overproduction of bad bacteria in the mouth is having a dry mouth.
This is because saliva functions to control the bad bacteria in your oral cavity. Therefore, the more moist your mouth is, the better for the optimal balance of good and bad bacteria in your mouth.
Our top tip for oral health is therefore to keep hydrated. This will ensure that your mouth is always producing enough saliva. Also, try to keep hydration levels up consistently throughout the day to obtain the maximum benefit.
Limit Sugary and Acidic Foods
Most of us are aware that what we eat will impact the health of our teeth and oral cavity. Namely, we should avoid sugar and sugary foods if we don’t want to get cavities!
But do you know exactly why that is?
Sugary foods are bad for our oral health as they feed bad bacteria and create the acid that creates holes in our teeth.
Therefore, by avoiding sugary foods, you're inhibiting the growth of bad bacteria in your mouth.
In addition, too much acidic foods can also be harmful to your teeth. This is through the acid-wearing down tooth enamel, which then leaves the teeth more vulnerable to bacteria present to wreak havoc.
Improve Lifestyle
The next factor that can really affect your oral health and microbiome is your overall lifestyle.
To really get the best oral health and promote good bacteria, this will require you to lead an overall healthy lifestyle that goes beyond just regular brushing and flossing and avoiding sugary foods.
One large lifestyle factor that will affect your oral health is quitting smoking or vaping. It’s well established that smoking and vaping are harmful to oral health, and smoking is significantly linked to mouth cancers.
Smoking also causes inflammation in the gums of the mouth through the disruption it has on normal oral microbiome and can often result in gum disease.
Alcohol consumption also has a significant effect on the microbiome in your mouth.
While you might think that alcohol may be beneficial for your mouth as it’s a fermented product and may kill bad bacteria, unfortunately, this is not the case!
In contrast, alcohol actually causes good bacteria to be killed and increases the number of bad bacteria in the mouth.
These bacteria have been shown to be linked to diseases such as cancer and other chronic conditions.
Therefore, limit your alcohol consumption as much as possible for the well-being of your whole mouth.
Regular Dental Check-ups
While your individual daily oral cleaning routine is essential to oral health, this doesn’t mean you can skip your regular dental checkups!
Seeing your dentist regularly is essential to ensure your teeth, gums, and mouth are healthy.
They will be able to monitor changes to the health of your oral cavity and provide deeper cleaning beyond what you can do at home.
Conclusion
As we’ve seen, your oral microbiome is the foundation of the health of your mouth, and even your whole body!
To optimize your oral health, you want to reduce bad bacteria and promote good bacteria in your mouth.
This article has outlined exactly how to do this by looking at your diet, your lifestyle, your oral health care products, and other tips such as reaching for the water and taking a good quality probiotic supplement.
For those who are serious about the health of their mouth, it’s worth investing in exceptional tools that will give you peace of mind that your mouth is as clean as can be.
Here at Boka, our specialty is making the best oral health tools that can provide you with this reassurance.
Give our products a try and see how much difference they make to your oral health and overall well-being!