Health
ESSENTIAL Naples
What Happens
WINTER 2021
12
in Your Mouth Doesn’t Stay in Your Mouth By Dr. Josephine Perez, DMD
Y
es, unfortunately, unlike Vegas, every cell in your body will find out about what you put in your mouth. Let’s talk microbiome. The oral cavity houses over 700 species of bacteria, or microbes, that play an important role in the biology of health and disease. These microbes are composed mostly of beneficial bacteria that, in health, are oxygen loving or aerobic. Any change in response to our environment; diet, weight, hormones and even state of mind will influence it. They provide the first line of defense and the host’s immune system controls this bacterial colonization. Our oral health is directly related to the types (and amount) of good and bad bacteria in our mouths. Generally speaking, most Americans today are well aware that these species found in our mouths travel through our blood stream, our breathing, and our digestion to the rest of our body. New research has correlated this and the fact that these pathogens have been linked to Alzhiemer’s, Autoimmune diseases, (arthritis and psoriasis), as well as several cancers. There is even new research linking gum disease and COVID-19. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients with underlying gum disease are more likely to suffer respiratory failure. In 2000, the U.S. Surgeon General called the mouth, “the mirror of health and disease in the body”. It’s not a closed system. This is why a well-trained Biological Dentist has a pretty
