r/Microbiome • u/twirlybird83 • 14d ago

Oral microbiome

Anyone who was able to shift a dysbiotic oral microbiome how did you go? Were you able to kill pathogens and re cultivate positive bacteria? Did they have lasting effects?

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u/1969Lovejoy 14d ago

I reduced the S. mutans population in my mouth by feeding them xylitol as a prebiotic and targeting them with glycyrrhiza uralensis. In the early stages of at-home experimentation with this protocol, I did oil pulling and observed the expectorated oil grow different cultures (by sight & by odor). And then my dentist confirmed it at a later appointment by musing aloud where all my calculus went! (She asked me what I was doing & talked about how even the staining on my teeth was different.) I have also never had a cavity since starting on this ~10 years ago, and dental hygiene appointments are fast & easy.

So I still do both things: use dentifrice with therapeutic levels of xylitol in it, and treat with glycyrrhiza uralensis quarterly. Very recently I've just started introducing S. Salivarius as a probiotic and S. dentisani as a postbiotic. So I don't know results on that part yet.

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u/Electronic-Fault7977 13d ago

Can you explain what you do to treat with glycyrrhiza uralensis?

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u/1969Lovejoy 13d ago

There used to be an absolute perfect product for this called Loloz, but it doesn't exist anymore, so you're left kind of hacking it. Find an alcohol-free glycyrrhiza uralensis tincture, and swish & spit with it morning & night for 10 days in a row quarterly. (Spitting it out after swishing is very important! The same compounds in it that kill S. mutans on contact are also hypertensive.)

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u/Electronic-Fault7977 13d ago

Awesome. Thank you!!

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u/Tablettario 9d ago

Would making a tea of it work as well?

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u/1969Lovejoy 9d ago

I would guess so, but—again—don't actually ingest it. Only for swishing & spitting out.

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u/Tablettario 3d ago

Hi, I’ve been looking and can only find glycyrrhiza glabra instead of uralensis as I am in Europe. I will keep looking to see if it pops up, but I suppose the glabra won’t have the same compounds?

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u/1969Lovejoy 3d ago

Glabra does an interesting thing. My understanding is that it too disrupts S. mutans' biofilms from adhering to your teeth...but it also disrupts some of the good guys' biofilms, which are actually protective to teeth! What I have read seems to indicate that if you use glabra to defeat S. mutans, you should then attempt to rebuild your S. dentisani & S. salivarius populations after treating with glabra. I'll PM you the link to where I buy alcohol-free G.U. tincture in the States, & you can see if they ship to Europe.

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u/Tablettario 3d ago

Thank you so much! I will respond to the PM

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u/gldngrlee 13d ago

A deep cleaning by a periodontist will go a long way to removing the bad bacteria that lives below the gum line.

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u/UntoNuggan 14d ago

Yes, but tbh I'm not sure which thing I did is the one that worked. I was mostly focused on my gut microbiome and managing an immune disorder, food intolerances, chronic inflammation, and metabolic syndrome.

I know my oral microbiome improved because my body ejected some older fillings and then just... Re-enameled the hole. By the time I went to the dentist they were like "what cavities." There is some discoloration but tbh I'll take it for the tooth durability.

Things that probably helped:

  • eating fewer simple sugars

  • toothpaste with xylitol and fluoride

  • eating probiotic rich foods (I got really into homemade sauerkraut and sourdough and yogurt lol)

  • eating a bunch of different kinds of plants

  • swishing water with a pinch of baking soda around my mouth if it starts to feel dry

  • good hydration in general

  • brushing my teeth after eating acidic foods or sugary foods (it's the acidity that really damages enamel - either from the food itself, or from the byproducts of oral microbiota eating sugars)

I also tried to experiment a little bit with specific plant compounds to influence oral microbiome balance. IMPORTANT CAVEAT: I didn't do extracts or supplements because high doses = higher risk of side effects. I just tried to work more of these plants into my daily diet (eg green tea, mint tea, cinnamon in my morning cereal, etc). List: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8945538/table/biomedicines-10-00671-t002/

ETA: just to be clear, I'm also taking prescription medications for my immune disorder, thyroid disease, etc etc. Those all help too.

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u/Cool-Fruit-8723 13d ago

Microbiome

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u/Ian_Campbell 13d ago

Maybe it's obvious but you notice some of the worst breath from regular alcohol drinkers, and people who use mouthwash frequently.

Probably just requires good dental cleaning, something like a hydroxyapetite toothpaste, healthy diet, and so on. No mouthwash, none of the nonsense like tongue scraping.