Especially after the COVID-19 outbreak, people obsessed over how clean objects are. Disinfecting counters, doorknobs, technology, desks, light switches, and chairs became essential to reduce the risk of infection, and while people have eased their strict cleaning, the idea of bacteria and viruses anywhere can scare people. Believe it or not, you likely have more than 700 types of bacteria living in your mouth right now! However, before you worry or do something rash or unhealthy, learn more about how probiotics can help you maintain safe control of oral bacteria.
Why Do Oral Bacteria Matter?
The thought of the number of oral bacteria may nauseate you, but not all bacteria are harmful.In fact, many types of bacteria serve important purposes in keeping your body healthy. You don’t want to get rid of all of them! In your mouth, the harmful bacteria try to create eroding acids and attack gum tissue, leading to potentially devastating infection if the issue isn’t treated right away. As in other parts of the body, your white blood cells fight these bacteria, but they often aren’t enough to keep gum from become infected.
What Are Probiotics?
Fortunately, other types of bacteria are much more beneficial for your smile. These kinds, called probiotics, inherently fight inflammation and bacteria along with white blood cells, overpowering them and preventing damage to your gums.
Often, you can find probiotics either naturally in certain foods and beverages or in daily vitamin supplements. In addition to benefits for your mouth, probiotics can help inflammation-causing bacteria in your gut and other places in your body.
How Can Probiotics Help Balance Oral Bacteria?
Harmful bacteria never truly go away. The white, sticky substance that adheres to your teeth is called plaque, and it comes from the food you eat and the bacterial status in your mouth. If you have more bad than good bacteria, plaque will more easily build up and eventually infect your gum and jawbone tissue. Probiotics help the ratio between good and bac stay in balance, which means strong oral health can more easily prevails
What Is More Important Than Probiotics?
Although you may find getting probiotics daily is helpful, smart lifestyle choices have a much larger impact on your oral health. Every day, you need to floss at least once and brush for two minutes twice. These little actions remove plaque before it becomes difficult to remove later. On top of daily efforts, you must visit your dentist two times per year for checkups and cleanings. If they find anything amiss with your gums, they can quickly perform gum disease treatment before it creates serious trouble. Other excellent decisions are having a nutritious diet, drinking plenty of water, and avoiding tobacco and vaping.
Any effort you put forth to stop and treat gum disease helps! Probiotics alone aren’t enough to stand up to harmful bacteria in your mouth, but if you continue to have healthy habits and add probiotics to your routine, you can have more peace of mind and pink, firm gums in your smile!
About the Practice
When given the choice, our Williamsburg Dental team will choose to prevent gum disease and other oral issues or treat them early rather than wait to do major treatment later. However, if necessary, we can certainly perform more complex procedures to rescue and restore your smile. To learn more about oral health, our treatments, or other information about us, contact one of our six locations throughout Lincoln or visit us online here.