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A Surprising Autoimmune Trigger Hiding In Your Mouth

Does this sound like you?

You’ve been ill with an autoimmune disease for a while, but you can’t recall a battle with Epstein-Barr virus, and none of the usual triggers ring true with you, or you have worked through the ones you had and aren’t seeing the results you expect. Another seemingly unrelated health issue is that despite brushing and flossing twice a day, following with mouthwash, your dentist is not happy with your oral health. You visit her regularly only to get more bad news about the spread of gum disease or the need for a root canal. An added worry on top of your autoimmunity issues!

What if your poor oral health was the trigger for your autoimmune disease?

We can’t blame your dentist or doctor for not spotting the connection. The trouble may lie in western medicine’s continued focus on treating the mouth separately to the rest of the body – but we’re beginning to catch up. There is increased focus on the importance of oral-systemic health.

The mouth is an important gateway to the rest of your body, and often the first line of defence in regards to inflammation and the autoimmune response. It is a heavily vascular area, meaning that any toxins or bacteria getting past its defences can travel around the body quickly, causing damage and instigating an autoimmune response.

There are over 100 diseases of the body originating in the mouth.

Is your autoimmune disorder one of them?

What Is the Oral Microbiome?

The oral microbiome cannot be seen, but it’s one of the most fascinating parts of the inside of your mouth. Your mouth is warm, moist, full of food particles – the perfect place for microorganisms to thrive – and that’s a good thing! Your oral microbiome behaves similarly to your gut microbiome – the ‘good’ bacteria keeps the ‘bad’ bacteria in check. The bacteria feed on food debris from your chewing.

Your oral microbiome is made up of similar bacteria to that in your gut, which adheres to your teeth as a biofilm. Biofilms are made up of communities of bacteria interlinked and able to communicate and collaborate with each other to build up resistance to your immune system.

When your mouth is healthy, the good microorganisms work together to contribute to your body’s workings in the following ways:

Digesting food debris

Generating energy

Colonisation resistance

Maturing epithelium cells and maintaining mucosal barriers (basically, maintaining a healthy environment by doing structural maintenance)

When your oral microbiome misbehaves, it initially causes mild diseases of the mouth, which can be treated by a dentist. However, an oral disease can trigger an autoimmune disease in susceptible individuals and can perpetuate it in others.

When Your Oral Microbiome Goes Wrong

When you’re healthy, the makeup of your oral microbiome remains stable. However, eating large quantities of refined sugar, having poor saliva levels, or maintaining poor oral hygiene can affect your oral microbiome for the worse. Dental implants, bridgework and prosthetics can all disrupt your oral microbiome, as the microorganisms are unable to stick to the man-made surfaces.

An unhealthy oral microbiome can cause:

Dental caries or cavities – small holes in the enamel of your teeth, caused by acid secreting bacteria.

Subgingival plaque, leading to –

Gingivitis – more commonly known as gum disease, is the condition where your gums become sore, inflamed, or swollen. Caused by a buildup of plaque – excreted by the bad bacteria in your mouth that feeds on food debris and sugar – gingivitis is best treated before it can progress into the more serious periodontal disease.

Periodontitis – otherwise known as periodontal disease. When you develop this disease, your gum tissue begins to pull away from your teeth and form little crevices: perfect for nasty bacteria to bed down in and multiply, causing infection.

Pulp infection in the centre of your tooth, leading to a root canal or tooth removal.

However, the results of an unhealthy oral microbiome don’t start and end in the mouth. Due to the link between oral and systemic health, an unhealthy mouth can trigger a whole host of autoimmune issues in the rest of your body.

Periodontitis may cause a systemic anti inflammatory response and depending on your genetic and environmental predispositions can trigger:

Poorly managed type 2 diabetes

Cardiovascular disease, which is also an autoimmune disease

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Remember, there are over 100 systemic diseases that begin in your mouth. Yet, most of the time, dentistry is seen as a separate field to medicine, when really the disciplines need to be tied closer together.

(08/31/2024)
by Robyn Puglia

More Information: https://robynpuglia.com/a-surprising-autoimmune-trigger-hiding-in-your-mouth/

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