Dr. Victoria Veytsman On The Oral Microbiome

How does oral health impact overall well being and health?

The mouth is literally the gateway to overall health. A lot of people look at the gut microbiome, but the gut microbiome actually begins in the mouth. Saliva is a carrier for the oral microbiome. And there have been links between the oral microbiome and things like ibs, Crohn's disease. There's something called the oral gut brain axis. Everything begins in the mouth. Oral health is linked to things like. Megan, you said cardiovascular disease, even neurodegenerative disorders. The same bacteria, sometimes that's found in oral dysbiosis, is found in Alzheimer brain cells. There's really a huge link. And even when you have dysbiosis in your mouth, that can lead to things like eczema. Just because when there's inflammation in your mouth, these inflammatory molecules are released into your system and can cause inflammatory responses in very distant organs. We can't take lightly that everything in every body system is super connected, even diabetes. If you have inflammation in your gum tissue, the gums are highly vascular and those inflammatory molecules will travel. That can affect insulin resistance. It can exacerbate autoimmune disease. And I know women are a lot more prone to autoimmune disease. Harmony with the oral microbiome, keeping your inflammatory levels down in your mouth, keeping everything healthy, is really the easiest things you could do for systemic health.