I’m A Functional Dentist & I See So Many People Make This Oral Health Mistake

Over the past decade or so there has been a rising awareness of the invaluable importance of our gut health and how critical it is to support our gut microbiome. However, many people are still quite unfamiliar with our oral microbiome, the second most diverse microbiome in our bodies harboring over 700 species of bacteria.

The mouth is the gateway into our bodies and the beginning of our gastrointestinal tract. We are learning more and more about how the gut and mouth can impact each other, as well as the mouth-gut axis and how the mouth may be the gatekeeper of our gut health. 

We swallow anywhere from 500 to 1000 times a day, and with each swallow we are potentially seeding our gut with microbes from our oral cavity. If these microbes are negative in nature, this can lead to imbalances, exacerbating issues and influencing overall GI heath.  

But what exactly is the oral microbiome and what can we do to nourish and support it? More importantly, what happens if we do not?