Oral Health & The Microbiome

Can your oral health and its associated microbiome affect your overall health? You bet your bippy it can!

A good example is the bacteria that causes gingivitis (p. gingivalis). I picked this one at random, but we know of quite a few bacteria in the mouth that can cause health issues. We all know that it lives right below the gum line. Does that mean it stays there? Not in a million years.  Bacteria like warm, wet, and in this case low oxygen environments. It can move right into your blood stream or can be swallowed. I am going to focus on the swallowing method of translocation and the effects that can have. If you swallow the bacteria during a low stomach acid time, the bacteria can survive the stomach and makes its way into your intestine. In the intestine, it can make its merry way through the tight junctions in between the cells and enter the body. Which can lead to leaky gut syndrome and others.

Once inside the body this nasty little critter has been a contributor to : neurological disease, heart disease, endocrine disease, gastrointestinal disease, autoimmune disease, and last but certainly not least cancer.

This is why it is so important to take care of your health.