The Role of Probiotics in Oral Health: Can They Help with Gum Disease?

Since the mouth and stomach are directly linked, it would make sense that a healthy gut biome could potentially have an impact on your oral health. After all, conditions like acid reflux can lead to enamel damage. Surely the link doesn’t stop there.

It turns out that your oral health can have an impact on your stomach health, and your stomach health can have an impact on your oral health. By protecting your gut biome with probiotics, it may be possible to help support your oral health and your wider health.

The oral-gut axis explained

Since your digestive system is linked to your mouth, it makes sense that the health of one will impact the health of the other. We see this in conditions like gum disease, where the bacteria build up in the mouth can then spread to the stomach and lead to digestive issues.

And the connection works both ways, as issues with your gut health like acid reflux can trigger problems in your mouth due to an excess of acid.

When the stomach is disturbed, this could lead to problems in absorbing nutrients from your food, which could then lead to nutritional deficiencies that impact your teeth and your wider health.

And finally, inflammation of the gut can spread throughout the body, triggering inflammation of the gums which can damage the supporting structures that keep your teeth in place.

How can probiotics help?

Probiotics are friendly bacteria that are found in the gut. There is a delicate balance in your gut that can be upset by over-growth of certain bacteria that are unhelpful. A diet of ultra processed food, alcohol and poor rest can trigger an upset of the stomach biome. This allows the unhelpful bacteria to thrive, while the good bacteria suffers.

When the stomach is upset in this way, it can trigger inflammation that spreads throughout the body in your bloodstream. There is thought to be a link between gut health and your wider health, including your mental health. By supporting your body with probiotics and a healthy diet, you can actively encourage good bacteria to thrive.

Probiotics are available in different forms, but one of the best ways to get more of these into your diet is with natural sources. Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, miso, yoghurt, kefir, some cheeses and certain sourdough breads will be rich in natural probiotics.

By prioritising these in your diet, you can ensure your stomach gets more of what it needs. You can also look at minimising the foods that can damage your gut biome. This includes foods with artificial sweetener, fried foods, processed foods, sugar, alcohol and red meat. You don’t have to cut these out altogether, but reducing your consumption of these choices, while increasing the amount of probiotics you enjoy, could help to restore balance.

Signs your gut biome is unhealthy

Signs of poor gut health include digestive issues, including bloating, gas and constipation. You might also notice skin problems, including acne, eczema and inflammation. You might have intense sugar cravings, which will often further feed the issues. You might also notice that you get ill often, and this is down to a weakened immune system.

This inflammation of the gut can appear as inflammation in your gums. If you have gum disease but you know that you take excellent care of your teeth, your gut biome could be to blame. By addressing your diet, eliminating the damaging foods and increasing your intake of probiotics, you could help to limit the damage associated with inflammation of the gut.

Final thoughts on probiotics and gum disease

Making these small changes to your diet will have a big impact on your wider health, in addition to helping to support your oral health. If you are concerned about gum disease, don’t attempt to treat this on your own. Always start with support from your dentist, as we can help to tackle the symptoms to prevent further damage.

If you decide to make changes to your diet to see if you can improve your oral health, you should always approach this alongside support from your dentist, as this will ensure you don’t allow the condition to progress any further.