Role of Oral Microbiota in Preserving Health and Disease Management (2025)

The influence of the oral microbiome on general health

STOMATOLOGY EDU JOURNAL, 2021

Background The oral microbiome hosts a large number of microorganisms that play a critical role in oral and general health. Many factors can cause dysbiosis of the otherwise beneficial interrelationship between host and microbiome. Understanding and identifying microbial shifts and keystone pathogens that correlate with general diseases of the body holds many opportunities. Objective The aim of this literature review is to present scientific evidence about disease-associated microbial shifts in the oral cavity, the effect on oral and general health and give the reader insights into alternative, new treatment approaches. This review is also intended to inspire practitioners to consider a more holistic care approach. Data sources A search was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. The general key terms used were: “Oral microbiome AND health”, “Oral microbiome AND general disease”. Disease-specific searches were performed. Articles found by cross-referencing were inc...

Oral microbiome and health

AIMS Microbiology, 2018

The oral microbiome is diverse in its composition due to continuous contact of oral cavity with the external environment. Temperatures, diet, pH, feeding habits are important factors that contribute in the establishment of oral microbiome. Both culture dependent and culture independent approaches have been employed in the analysis of oral microbiome. Gene-based methods like PCR amplification techniques, random amplicon cloning, PCR-RELP, T-RELP, DGGE and DNA microarray analysis have been applied to increase oral microbiome related knowledge. Studies revealed that microbes from the phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Fusobacteria, Neisseria, TM7 predominately inhabits the oral cavity. Culture-independent molecular techniques revealed the presence of genera Megasphaera, Parvimonas and Desulfobulbus in periodontal disease. Bacteria, fungi and protozoa colonize themselves on various surfaces in oral cavity. Microbial biofilms are formed on the buccal mucosa, dorsum of the tongue, tooth surfaces and gingival sulcus. Various studies demonstrate relationship between unbalanced microflora and development of diseases like tooth caries, periodontal diseases, type 2 diabetes, circulatory system related diseases etc. Transcriptome-based remodelling of microbial metabolism in health and disease associated states has been well reported. Human diets and habitat can trigger virus activation and influence phage members of oral microbiome. As it is said,-Mouth, is the gateway to the total body wellness, thus oral microbiome influences overall health of an individual‖.

Oral Microbiota, Its Equilibrium and Implications in the Pathophysiology of Human Diseases: A Systematic Review

Biomedicines

Imbalances of the oral microbiota and dysbiosis have traditionally been linked to the occurrence of teeth and oral diseases. However, recent findings indicate that this microbiota exerts relevant influence in systemic health. Dysbiosis of the oral microbiota is implicated in the apparition and progression of cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and other major human diseases. In fact, the oral microbiota are the second most diverse and largely populated microbiota of the human body and its relationships with systemic health, although widely explored, they still lack of proper integration. The purpose of this systematic review is thus to widely examine the implications of oral microbiota in oral, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases to offer integrative and up-to-date interpretations. To achieve that aim, we identified a total of 121 studies curated in PUBMED from the time interval January 2003–April 2022, which after careful screening resulted in 79 studies included. The revie...

Oral Microbiota and Systemic Diseases

International Journal of Orofacial Biology

Human oral microbiota is the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms found in the oral cavity. Oral microbiota generally exists in the form of a biofilm and plays a crucial role in maintaining oral homeostasis, protecting the oral cavity and preventing disease development. Human oral microbiota has recently become a new focus research for promoting the progress of disease diagnosis, assisting disease treatment, and developing personalized medicines. In this review, the scientific evidence supporting the association that endogenous and exogenous factors (diet, smoking, drinking, socioeconomic status, antibiotics use and pregnancy) modulate oral microbiota.

Diversity of the Oral Microbiome and Dental Health and Disease

International Journal of Clinical & Medical Microbiology

The oral microbiome is extremely diverse, and consists of potentially over 1000 different microorganisms, including viruses, protozoa, fungi, archaea, and bacteria. In conditions of oral health, biofilms are in a state of microbial homeostasis, with the vast majority of the microbiota being commensal or mutualistic in nature. In conditions of oral disease, the composition, quantity, and stability of the oral microbiota become disrupted. Factors that influence microbial composition include genetics, host defenses, microbial interactions, receptors used for attachment, acidogenicity, and salivary flow. The interplay of these factors determines the balance between oral health and disease, and when microbial homeostasis becomes disrupted, oral diseases including dental caries, endodontic disease, and periodontal disease may occur. As the aims of this review article, we will discuss the microorganisms that have been identified as the key players in dental caries, endodontic disease and periodontal disease, and propose as a hypothesis that microbial homeostasis and imbalance will have an impact on oral health and disease. Identifying the factors that influence oral health and disease may help develop preventive and therapeutic strategies for dental care provided by oral health practitioners.

Probiotics or health-beneficial bacteria have only recently been introduced in dentistry and oral medicine after years of successful use in mainly gastro-intestinal disorders. The concept of bacteriotherapy and use of health-beneficial microorganism to heal diseases or support immune function was first introduced in the beginning of the 20th century. Later the concept lead to the development of modern dairy industry and even today most probiotic strains are lactobacilli or bifidobacterium used in milk fermentation. The mechanisms of probiotic action appear to link with colonization resistance and immune modulation. Lactic acid bacteria can produce different antimicrobial components such as organic acids, hydrogen peroxide, carbon peroxide, diacetyl, low molecular weight antimicrobial substances, bacteriocins, and adhesion inhibitors, which also affect oral microflora. However, data is still sparse on the probiotic action in the oral cavity. More information is needed on the colonization of probiotics in the mouth and their possible effect on and within oral biofilms. There is every reason to believe that the putative probiotic mechanisms of action are the same in the mouth as they are in other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Because of the increasing global problem with antimicrobial drug resistance, the concept of probiotic therapy is interesting and pertinent, and merits further research in the fields of oral medicine and dentistry.

The short-term impact of probiotic consumption on the oral cavity microbiome

Scientific Reports, 2018

The dysbiosis of the oral microbiome is associated with both localized and systemic diseases. Modulating the resident microbial communities by the dietary consumption of probiotics has become an appealing means to promote host health by either restoring host-microbe balance or preventing dysbiosis. Most probiotics strategies target the intestinal microbiome, but little is known about their impact on the oral microbiome. We analyzed here the saliva microbiome from 21 volunteers, longitudinally collected before, during, and after consumption of a commercial probiotic and a standard yoghurt using 16S amplicon sequencing. The alpha diversity of the saliva microbiome had a statistically significant increase (P-value = 0.0011) in one of the groups that consumed the probiotic. The overall structure of the microbiome was however not significantly impacted by the probiotic, although oligotyping analysis revealed that both Streptococci and Lactobacilli present in the probiotic product persisted in the saliva microbiome. In contrast, non-probiotic yoghurt consumption had a lesser impact on the overall diversity and Lactobacillus and Streptococcus persistence. Our results suggest that consumption of commercial probiotics in healthy subjects increase the overall diversity of the oral cavity microbiome in the short term, but such dietary interventions are not able to substantially modify the structure of the microbiome. The role of the human microbiome in human health has been investigated extensively, highlighting its importance in immune system regulation 1,2 , nutrient absorption 3 , and weight balance 4. While the majority of these studies have focused on the gut microbiome, the oral microbiome has also received attention 5,6 , particularly in association with the initiation and development of common oral diseases such as dental caries 7–9. The potential to modify the microbiome by introducing live microbial strains that are presumed to be beneficial to health, so called probiotics, is an active area of research. In this context, most studies have investigated the impact of probiotic bacterial species on the gut microbiome. Such bacteria usually belong to the Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus genera 10,11 , and their potential beneficial effects have been investigated both in mouse models 12–14 and human trials 15–17. While several products are commercially available for the modulation of the human gut microbiome 18,19 , only a few have been specifically proposed for the oral cavity 20. We previously described the short-term changes induced by a commercial probiotic product in the taxo-nomic composition of the saliva microbiome 21. This study suggested that the overall diversity of the micro-biome increased with the consumption of a probiotic product, but because of the limited sample size and the cross-sectional rather than longitudinal study design, additional evidence is required. In this study, we further investigate the impact of a probiotic and standard yoghurt intake in terms of their effect on the composition and structure of the oral microbiome and evaluate the persistence of the probiotic strains. Results The saliva microbiome after consumption of a probiotic product. In this study we collected longitudinal saliva samples from 21 healthy volunteers, divided into three groups of seven volunteers (Fig. 1A). Each of these three group was asked to follow a probiotic-free diet for at least two weeks, after which the first set of saliva samples were collected to define the baseline microbiome configuration (T1). The following day (T2), the first and the third

The Interplay of the Local Microbiome with Oral Mucosal Immune Compartment: Minireview

American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences

The oral microbiome is formed and functioned in balanced state during health and in an unbalanced state in the disease conditions. Microbiome in the oral compartment combats the weapons of the invading microbial pathogens. Now, there are a specific microbiome signature in each of the cases of health and disease. Oral microbiome expressed; probiotic, antigenic competition and immunomodulatory effects locally in the oral compartment .In the immunologic sense, oral microbiome is constituting an element that is able to interact in a bidirectional fashion with the components of the oral immune compartment with the net result of homiostasis, immune response ,tolerance, anergy and hypersensitivity and/or immune mediated diseases. Thus it has played an important roles in oral immune mechanisms.

Probiotics: Evidence of Oral Health Implications

Folia Medica

The prevalence of common oral diseases, such as dental caries, periodontal diseases and oral candidiasis remains high in the general population. Various preventive strategies have been proposed and included in national health programs promoting oral health. Interest in probiotics in light of oral health has gradually evolved as attractive means in prevention of oral infectious diseases. The aim of the present review is to outline the current evidence on the role of probiotic species on oral health parameters and their beneficial role in contributing to healthier oral environment.

Screening of Probiotic Candidates in Human Oral Bacteria for the Prevention of Dental Disease

PloS one, 2015

The oral cavity in healthy subjects has a well-balanced microbiota that consists of more than 700 species. However, a disturbance of this balance, with an increase of harmful microbes and a decrease of beneficial microbes, causes oral disorders such as periodontal disease or dental caries. Nowadays, probiotics are expected to confer oral health benefits by modulating the oral microbiota. This study screened new probiotic candidates with potential oral health benefits and no harmful effects on the oral cavity. We screened 14 lactobacillus strains and 36 streptococcus strains out of 896 oral isolates derived from healthy subjects. These bacteria did not produce volatile sulfur compounds or water-insoluble glucan, had higher antibacterial activity against periodontal bacteria, and had higher adherence activity to oral epithelial cells or salivary-coated hydroxyapatite in vitro. We then evaluated the risk of primary cariogenicity and infective endocarditis of the selected oral isolates....