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There are creatures living in your mouth. The Microbiome Explained

You need to feed the bacteria in your mouth. Your mouth is one of the most bacteria-ridden parts of your body, teeming with trillions of little organisms of over 600 different species who just, like, chill. But, don’t panic and rinse your mouth with hand sanitizer (really. don’t!). This bacteria makes up an ultra-diverse community that can be good (think bacteria block party BBQs) or bad (think bacteria neighbor who blasts Christmas music at 1AM in September) — and you’re in control of it like it’s a game of The Sims. Meet your oral microbiome, and learn how to nurture it.

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Featured

 The Forest In Your Mouth

The study of the human microbiome—the booming and much-hyped quest to understand the microbes that share our bodies—began in the mouth. Specifically, it began with dental plaque.

Articles of Interest

By Studying Mouth Bacteria, Scientists Hope to Learn the Secrets of Microbiomes

Communities of bacteria and other microbes in the human mouth can help researchers learn how these groups of organisms affect human health

Dimitra Williams' The Human Mouth Series Shows a Range of Personalities

Shot by American photographer Dimitra Williams, The Human Mouth photo series shows that the mouth is more than just a tool with a function that helps us eat, breathe and speak. It is also "a free and abundant source of visual art," as Williams sees it. Through the use of hyper-photography, the artist captures the human mouth's textures, abnormalities and interesting positions as much as its emotional elements. This is an absolutely impressive series.

Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives

What's happening in the mouth can contribute to conditions elsewhere in the body.

Here’s why wounds heal faster in the mouth than in other skin

Knowing how the mouth performs its speed healing may eventually lead to therapies that fix skin sores without forming scars.

The Marvels in Your Mouth

Dr. Van der Bilt and his colleagues have laid claim to a strange, occasionally repugnant patch of scientific ground. They study the mouth — more specifically, its role as the human food processor. Their findings have opened up new insights into quite a few things that most of us do every day but would rather not think about.

The Mouth-Body Connection

Oral health is essential to general health and well-being at every stage of life. A healthy mouth enables not only nutrition of the physical body, but also enhances social interaction and promotes self-esteem and feelings of well-being. The mouth serves as a “window” to the rest of the body, providing signals of general health disorders. For example, mouth lesions may be the first signs of HIV infection, aphthous ulcers are occasionally a manifestation of Coeliac disease or Crohn’s disease, pale and bleeding gums can be a marker for blood disorders, bone loss in the lower jaw can be an early indicator of skeletal osteoporosis, and changes in tooth appearance can indicate bulimia or anorexia.

The Top 25 Biological Functions of the Mouth

Following over 50 years of study and listening to experts, I want to share with you why good growth and good functioning of the mouth is so important. Let me explain why the Mouth is the Mirror of your Life. Good jaws mean a better neck alignment and a better airway and less snoring and less sleep apnea, good gums mean less bloodstream inflammation and good teeth will ensure you good jaw support, a good smile and a long healthy life.

This strange condition makes you feel like you just burned your mouth on hot coffee—indefinitely

You've heard of auditory and visual hallucinations, but what about oral phantoms?

Why We Have So Many Problems with Our Teeth

Our choppers are crowded, crooked and riddled with cavities. It hasn’t always been this way.

With Age Comes a Mouthful of Trouble

Yet dental health gets more challenging at older ages. Gums recede, exposing roots to decay, and bone loss makes teeth less stable. Older people produce less saliva — particularly because they often take drugs that produce dry mouth — which also leaves teeth vulnerable to decay.

Resources

14 Germ Facts About the Human Mouth

Here are 14 little facts that can motivate you and help you keep your mouth clean:

Mouth Healthy

Gum disease is an infection of the tissues that support the teeth and is a major cause of tooth loss in adults.

NewMouth

NewMouth is an informational web guide for those seeking general, orthodontic, pediatric, or specialty dental care. NewMouth is owned and funded by Dentistry Brands LLC, an informational marketing company that specializes in producing authoritative medical content based on dental literature, accredited scientific journals, and current dental research data.

Wikiwand

In human anatomy, the mouth is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food and produces saliva. The oral mucosa is the mucous membrane epithelium lining the inside of the mouth.