The fundamental cause of gum disease, tooth decay and even bad breath lies with the bacteria found in your mouth or, more broadly, your oral cavity.
The “bad” bacteria are also sometimes referred to as pathogens (the Greeks used the word “pathos” to refer to disease, or a bad experience and “gen” can mean “to create or cause”). So a pathogen=create a disease.
A pathogen is usually a bacteria or virus that causes illness, disease or infection.
Here is a simple example of how this works in your mouth:
The medical word for your gums is “gingiva” and so from this we get the condition called “gingivitis” which is when the gum tissue around your teeth become inflamed and red.
How does this happen?
The points here are:
A 2018 scientific study covered the effect of oral probiotics on the growth of periodontal pathogens.
In that study, the authors covered several of the primary proposed mechanisms by which oral probiotics act:
This covers the main mechanisms by which oral probiotics are seen to produce a beneficial effect in your mouth. Hopefully this makes more sense to you and you will find this information helpful in your journey to creating great oral health.
As the authors of the above reference study* stated in their conclusion:
“Lactobacillus and S. salivarius had inhibitory effect on periodontal pathogens in the oral microflora.”
Or, in simpler terms, the test oral probiotics helped to inhibit, slow down, the growth of bad bacteria in the mouth.
* S, Routh & Pai, Mithun & Rajesh, G & MDS, Shenoy R. (2018). EFFECT OF LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS AND STREPTOCOCCUS SALIVARIUS ON GROWTH OF PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS – AN IN-VITRO STUDY. International Journal of Advanced Research. 6. 607-612. 10.21474/IJAR01/7073.
Could ordinary, everyday products help to inactivate and slow the transmission of human coronaviruses? Several scientific studies were carried out to research this possibility. And the results support the effectiveness of everyday rinses (including baby shampoo and over-the-counter mouthwashes) at lowering the transmission and spread of the human corona virus.
What exactly is keto breath? While bad breath is unpleasant in any form, keto comes from a different source than most chronic bad breath. And it has a different smell and “taste.” Most chronic bad breath is caused by bacterial overgrowth in the mouth. This type of bad breath has a really stinky odor, quite often smelling like rotten eggs due to the Sulphur gas given off by the bacteria. There are remedies for bad breath, so read on...
The question of chewing sugary gums, or any kind of candy, has long since been answered as bad for your teeth. The sugars feed the cavity causing bacteria in your mouth, they produce lots of acid and this then destroys your teeth and encourages gum disease.
But how about non-sugar gums? Can they actually help in the fight against tooth decay?