Your mouth is one of the most diverse habitats in the human body. It contains over 700 known species of bacteria, as well as yeasts, viruses and some protozoa. This community is collectively referred to as the oral microbiome – and like your gut microbiome, the bacteria in your mouth play an important role in your health.
Some of the most common diseases caused by changes to your oral microbiome are tooth decay and gum disease. But growing evidence suggests that the oral microbiome is also linked to many other serious health conditions that occur elsewhere in the body. Since the respiratory tract starts in the mouth and ends in the lungs, it’s perhaps not surprising that an overgrowth of the oral microbiome can result in these microbes being inhaled into the lungs.
This can commonly lead to infections such as pneumonia, an often fatal disease in the elderly that has been linked to poor oral hygiene , leading to an overgrowth of oral bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae . Research has even demonstrated that introducing regular oral hygiene practices and professional dental cleaning in elderly care homes can reduce the number of pneumonia cases by a third . Keeping dentures and mouthguards clean is also important.
Poor oral health has also been linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and poorer respiratory function, and this is linked to changes in the oral microbiome. One of the most common oral microbiome diseases is chronic gum dis.
