Your smile is often the first thing people notice about you. In photos or in real life, your smile and your teeth are often visual statements of health and beauty. But aside from bright white teeth or perfect symmetry, you may not realize that your teeth are also an excellent snapshot of your internal health.
The Gateway to Health
There is a lot you can learn from a smile. What kind of person you are, but also what is happening inside you. Your mouth is one of the first entry points of your body, bringing in the air you breathe, the food you eat, and communicating with those around you. As an infant, it’s also your first introduction to the world - whether that be fingers and toes, toys, or even dirt.
But as an adult, your mouth and smile aren’t just indicating your internal health - they can be an active link empowering you to sway your health for the better.
Dentists around the world have tapped into this, working to maintain the health of your gums and teeth, and checking for diseases that manifest in the mouth. Now, dentists, physicians, and scientists around the world know that there is a unique oral microbiome that exists within each person’s mouth that helps influence our teeth and our gums.
More importantly, science has begun to tell a new story: the bacteria in your mouth aren’t just responsible for biofilm (or dental plaque), cavities, or bleeding gums - they also contribute greatly to our entire body’s health.
The Top of the Tube
The bacteria in our mouth actually impact other regions of the body, helping us maintain balance in our blood pressure, heart health, digestion, blood sugar, and nervous system. They also directly impact and influence the microbes in our gut, contributing to the relationship between our digestive system and other parts of the body.
It is very true that the mouth is the gateway to the body, and your oral microbiome - and all the bacteria, both good and bad - are the gateway to your health.
To celebrate new research into the oral microbiome and its connection to our health, we’ve created a simple, easy-to-use saliva test that takes a sample of your oral microbiome and analyzes it for patterns in our health. Known as our Oral Health Intelligence™ Test, we use the same powerful biological testing and machine learning algorithms from our other tests to gather insights into various areas of health impacted by the oral microbiome.
Curious about what you could learn? There is more to our Oral Health Intelligence Test than you may think!
10 Ways Viome’s Oral Health Intelligence Test is Changing How You Think About Oral Care
1. All those vitamin C-rich citrus fruits might be hurting your gums
Citrus fruits contain high amounts of citric acid that can be quite healthy for our body (an excellent source of vitamin C!) however, it could lower the pH of the mouth, creating a more acidic environment. A low pH can impact mucin binding, the slippery substance on your gums and teeth that prevents bacteria from attaching too easily to your mouth.
2. You might be at risk for cavities
Cavities are no fun, but what if you could determine your risk of getting them? Research has shown that high activities of specific microbes in the mouth are more likely to increase your susceptibility to dental caries (cavities). Fortunately, if your test shows high activity levels if microbes that promote cavities, many of your food recommendations may help restore that balance!
3. Your oral microbiome can impact your brain
You may have heard of the gut-brain connection, but let’s not forget how close your mouth is to your brain! The health of your oral ecosystem can say a lot about the health of your gums and mouth. If your oral microbiome is out of balance, it could impact the thin lining of your gums, allowing microbes and toxic compounds to slip into the bloodstream. This may sound oddly familiar: known as , it has a lot in common with its well-known cousin, leaky gut syndrome! Over time, these interactions can stir up troubles with your focus and increase issues like brain fog!
4. Whether your mouth is full of microbial activity contributing to tooth damage
Curious about WHICH microbes are highly active inside your mouth? Learn what specific bacteria are active and may be affecting the health of your teeth and gums, and contributing to chronic bad breath with your Cavity Promoting Microbes score. Moreover, you’ll learn your Cavity Promoting Activity score which assesses the activity levels of these microbes and how they utilize biofilm (or plaque) to support their colonies!
5. Which biological reactions are causing your bad breath
It’s not always about hygiene - even people who brush and floss regularly can struggle with chronic bad breath! This can be caused by bacteria in your mouth responding to different factors, like sulfide or polyamine production. If you’re looking for mouthwash or mints to mask your breath, look no further and get targeted recommendations that overcome bad smells from their own specific source.
6. Which foods you can eat more of (or avoid) to help you improve your bad breath
The goal here is to help give you the actions and recommendations you need to make lasting improvements to your oral health. Fortunately, there are a ton of healthy foods to choose from, especially ones that account for specific problems in your own individual mouth. Whether that’s a daily cup of green tea, or increasing your intake of fibrous vegetables (like arugula!), get food recommendations to help you fight unwanted bad breath!
Sometimes the foods that we think are healthiest might have an unexpected consequence inside our body. If you suffer from chronic bad breath, certain microbes inside your mouth might be converting smelly odors from foods in your diet, even healthy ones like tofu or mushrooms!
7. If the “bad bugs” in your mouth are taking over
Maintaining a healthy balance of microbes allows for more optimal oral environment where activities that are damaging or promote disease are kept to a minimum. Oral pathogens are harmful microorganisms, like bacteria, that live in the mouth and can cause disease or infection. Think of them as the "bad bugs" in your mouth that can lead to problems like cavities, gum disease, and other oral health issues. Your Oral Pathogen Activity score assesses the balance of microbes in your mouth and signs of pathogen activity.
8. If inflammation is playing a lead role in the symptoms you’re experiencing
Sometimes symptoms of an imbalance in your oral microbiome can be a sign of something more severe. Get insight into inflammation levels in your mouth that can determine how certain periodontopathic bacteria (bacteria that cause gum inflammation) are actively involved in gum inflammatory pathways. Over time, gum inflammation can cause loss of tooth enamel and dentin (the two outer layers of the teeth).
9. If your mouthwash is increasing your risk for cavities and oral inflammation
While mouthwashes may temporarily mask the smell of bad breath, antimicrobial mouthwashes may actually pose more of a risk than a benefit. These mouthwashes non-selectively wipe out all bacteria in the mouth, disrupting the delicate balance of the oral microbial flora, which can cause harmful bacteria to regenerate faster and in larger numbers than beneficial bacteria.1
10. Which oral biotics could help bring your oral microbiome ecosystem back into balance
The oral microbiome is made up mostly of bacteria that thrive inside our mouth with both harmful and very beneficial activities. But if your oral environment is in dysbiosis, there is a simple way to bring it back into homeostasis. Probiotics and prebiotics are not only good for your gut, they’re excellent support for your oral microbiome and can help:
Neutralize bad breath*
Improve oral health, leading to improved gum health, teeth health, and overall health*
Reduce gum redness*
Boost natural immune defenses*
Support for healthy teeth and gums by colonizing the mouth with good bacteria*
Your specific test allows Viome to create a targeted and personalized formula of prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, and polyphenols to help stimulate healthy microbial activities in your mouth!*
References:
1 Khor B, Snow M, Herrman E, Ray N, Mansukhani K, Patel KA, Said-Al-Naief N, Maier T, Machida CA. (2021). Microorganisms. 9(3):496. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9030496. PMID: 33652903; PMCID: PMC7996936.
