Your Mouth is Full of Hitchhikers

Do you know the mouth you are kissing?

There are twice as many microbes in your mouth as there are people on Earth.

You will never get rid of them; that would not be a good idea. The best you can do is to control them by brushing and flossing (I hate flossing!).

How do We Know?

Your mouth is a paradise for bugs. Just think about it!

It is always warm, there is a constant food supply, and moisture flows in regularly when we eat or drink. It is always moist and warm and has many wonderful surfaces for bugs to attach to and hide. Your teeth, your tongue, the skin on your cheeks—it is a mecca for microbes!

Some bored, entrepreneurial scientists at Harvard decided to measure the biomass of microbes in the mouth.

It is impossible to sit down and count them all one by one. Instead, they calculated by deduction.

As a microbiologist, I spent my early years estimating bacterial populations in the gut, on the skin, and in cosmetics, toiletries, and food.

It is done by growing samples on a nutrient medium. Then, count the growth as colony-forming units. These scientists took a different approach.

They harvested all the plaque from every tooth in the mouth and found that it weighed about 10 mg on average. Next, they multiplied this by 20. This accounted for the other surfaces in the mouth, like your tongue and cheek skin, based on area. They also determined that I mg of biomass contains about 100 million microbes.

So, 100 million x 20 mg = 20 billion, more than 2 x the world’s population, (estimated to be 8.2 billion).

A biofilm is a slimy, multilayered network of bacteria. The cells are held together by a sticky matrix.

What Do All These Bugs Do?

Scientists are constantly discovering new species of microbes. At last estimate, there were over 700 different species.

We tend to associate microbes with bad things like disease and infection. This is true. But, there are key differences between the microbes in a healthy mouth and an unhealthy one. Just like humans, microbes live in different areas. Some prefer to bind to teeth while others prefer the hustle and bustle of your tongue.

It is a war zone. Villains and good guys battle. Each type of bacteria does what it does best. The good guys help digest food. They keep bad bacteria at safe levels, preventing decay and mouth infections.

This is the basis of probiotics. We hear a lot about them in probiotic drinks and yogurt. They are foods enriched with the "good guys." They come in like an 'army of white knights' to defeat the bad guys.

The villains get together to cause plaque and decay. Plaque forms from a complex interaction. It results from acid from sugars in our diet and from matrix formation.

Alliances are formed and broken on a regular basis.

A Window to Your Soul (Good or Bad)

We all know that poor oral hygiene can cause bad breath, tooth decay, and gum disease. But, scientists have found strong links between oral health and overall health.

While this may be surprising, it is perfectly understandable. Your mouth is the entry point to your digestive system and your lungs. Poor oral health is linked to endocarditis, heart disease, pneumonia, some eating disorders, and immune reactions.

There is so much we still must learn. Sporting a set of perfect pearly whites is not enough. One thing is certain: Brush, floss, and get checkups. A healthy diet helps too. They can all prevent problems. It's all about controlling the balance of 'good guys' and 'bad guys.'

One More fact

One more fact about your mouth: your tongue is one of the favorite spots for microbes in your mouth. It’s like the Rolls-Royce of surfaces. That is why your doctor always wants to look at your tongue.

A white tongue can indicate poor oral hygiene due to a build-up of certain microbes. Your dentist will always tell you to brush your tongue when you brush your teeth. It helps dislodge microbes from their warm, sheltered surface.

It's a good practice to get into. Personally, I have a lot of trouble scrubbing my tongue because I have a bad gag reflex. So every time I try, I dry reach (now there is detail you don't need!)

Rinsing doesn’t work because the tongue’s surface is not smooth. It is very rough, with nice potholes for microbes to hide in.

So, make sure "you brush your teeth, Jeffrey," as the slogan says. People hate seeing dentists, (sorry to all of you dentists out there). Also, check who you are kissing.

Get them to poke out their tongue to be on the safe side!

Till next time,

Calvin