Strategies for Managing the Bacteria in Your Mouth

No matter how many times you swish with mouthwash per day, you can't get rid of the bacteria in your mouth for good. In fact, you likely have around 20 billion microbes in your mouth or more if you ever skip brushing and flossing.

But that's not always a bad thing. In moderation, the right bacteria can actually provide benefits. But in many cases, beneficial bacteria are outpaced by pathogenic bacteria, which cause gum disease, cavities, bad breath, tonsil stones, and other problems.

So how can you reap the benefits of the unavoidable bacteria in your mouth while avoiding the harmful effects? Here are some strategies for managing the bacteria in your mouth.

The first step in the process is to keep bacterial overgrowth from getting out of hand. One reason cavities are so rampant in the modern era is because the sugary and starchy foods that make up many modern diets are the main food source of pathogenic cavity-causing bacteria.

The main cavity-causing bacteria process sugars and simple starches directly into acids, meaning that the frequency of your consumption of these foods correlates directly to how often your teeth are bombarded by the eroding forces of these acids.

But you don't have to swear off sugar completely. If you keep sugary and starchy foods limited to mealtimes, you can reduce the number of acid attacks your teeth experience throughout the day. And you can reduce the impact of those attacks by swishing with a PH neutralizing mouthwash directly after eating or by chewing a piece of xylitol gum.

Once plaque has formed on your teeth, you can use mechanical means to remove it again. This is where brushing and flossing come in. Your toothbrush doesn't have to scrub hard to remove the biofilm; plaque is quite soft and toothpaste typically includes a gritty substance to boost scrubbing power.

However, brushing only reaches some of the tooth surfaces that need to be cleaned. Flossing on a regular basis will allow you to reach an additional 40% of the tooth surface. Just because your toothbrush doesn't reach a surface doesn't mean the bacteria won't colonize there; on the contrary, bacteria love to form plaque in undisturbed spots, which is why flossing is so critical.

One approach to the presence of pathogenic bacteria is to blast them with chlorhexidine mouthwash regularly, but this also kills beneficial bacteria. A more balanced approach could involve using a PHneutralizing mouthwash, since pathogenic bacteria love to grow in an acidic environment and many beneficial bacteria prefer a more neutral or alkaline PH.

Or you could focus on repopulating your mouth with beneficial bacteria, so the bad bacteria don't have as much space to grow. Although they're a relatively newer product, oral probiotics have some promising studies that indicate they may help keep bad bacteria populations down when taken regularly.

Talk to your dentist about whether oral probiotics are right for you. Some foods, such as kefir and liveculture-containing yogurt, may also help add good bacteria to your mouth.

These strategies can help you attack the problem of bacterial imbalance from both ends. You can keep levels of bad bacteria lower by keeping your mouth scrupulously clean and forming strategic eating habits, and you can help boost good bacteria with probiotics or naturally probiotic foods.

Advanced Dental Careprovides all the professional guidance and maintenance you need to keep your teeth healthy. We offer cleanings, exams, and other preventive maintenance in addition to any fillings, crowns, bridges, and other restorations you may need if your teeth fall victim to decay or other damage. Get in touch today to learn more and schedule your visit.