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Good morning.

If you've ever wondered what bleeding gums, brain fog, and broken sleep have in common…
The answer might be staring back at you in the mirror.

Today, we're stepping back to see the mouth not just as an isolated structure, but as a storytelling organ for the entire body. From gut imbalance to immune dysregulation to fragmented sleep, the oral cavity often tells us what’s happening systemically, before symptoms appear elsewhere.

Let’s explore how to read those signs—and how to help patients understand what their mouths are trying to say.

In Today’s Edition

• The Oral-Body Connection: Why inflammation often appears in the mouth first

• It’s All Connected: Bleeding gums, airway collapse, and brain fog

• Gut Check: How the microbiome and mouth influence each other

• Cathy’s Corner: Food as oral medicine

• Practice Tip: One phrase that transforms patient understanding

• Research Spotlight: Periodontitis and OSA—what the literature says 5-minute read

Clinical Corner

🥼Use the clinical corner as your secret weapon to impress your colleagues and patients!

Key Takeaways

The Mouth-Body Connection Is Not a Metaphor

Bleeding gums? It’s not just plaque—it’s inflammation.
Grinding teeth? It’s not just stress—it could be fragmented sleep and a sympathetically activated central nervous system.
Cavities despite good brushing? Look deeper—maybe into the gut.

The mouth is both digestive and respiratory real estate—home to the second most diverse microbiome in the body and one of the first places systemic dysfunction shows up. Saliva, tongue posture, oral tissues—they all respond to what's happening downstream in the gut and upstream in the brain.

🔍 Dr. Bennett’s dissertation literature review found that over 70% of dental patients show signs of SRBD, yet many dentists hesitate to connect oral findings to systemic patterns.
They don’t have to. And neither do you.

Check out an informative and engaging video by Dr. Michelle Jorgensen, which delves into the crucial connection between the gut microbiome and dental health.

How Periodontitis, OSA, and the Gut Microbiome Interconnect

1. Periodontitis and the Oral-Gut Axis

• Periodontal disease often reflects oral microbiome dysbiosis, including pathogens like P. gingivalis

• These bacteria can influence the gut microbiome via swallowing, bloodstream translocation, or immune signaling

• Studies link periodontal disease to gut barrier dysfunction and inflammatory gut conditions

2. OSA and Systemic Inflammation

• Obstructive sleep apnea leads to intermittent hypoxia, which alters gut microbiota and increases inflammation

• Sleep fragmentation affects circadian rhythm, which regulates both oral and gut microbial ecosystems

3. The Inflammation Triad: Mouth, Gut, and Immune System

• Chronic oral infections may seed systemic inflammation and disrupt gut health

• In return, gut dysbiosis and poor nutrient absorption may impair oral healing and worsen periodontal disease

• Both OSA and periodontitis amplify systemic inflammation, creating a self-perpetuating cycle

• To see an interesting study, click HERE

Cathy’s Corner: Start With Food

Nutrition is foundational to microbiome health, immune balance, and tissue healing. Processed foods, sugar, and inflammatory oils fuel both gum disease and leaky gut.
Encourage patients to:

• Prioritize anti-inflammatory, fiber-rich whole foods

• Stay well-hydrated to support saliva production and mucosal repair

• Limit sugar, alcohol, and ultraprocessed snacks that drive dysbiosis

Small dietary changes can calm inflammation everywhere, from the gums to the gut to the brain.

Something Sweet

🍭Stuff so sweet you might get a cavity..

CE Opportunities / Events

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Miscellaneous

😅P.S. … Did You Know?

• Salivary pH can reflect systemic inflammation—low pH is often found in high-stress or sleep-deprived patients.

• Mouth breathing at night increases oral acidity and feeds harmful bacteria, even in people with good brushing habits.

• The oral microbiome resets every 24–48 hours, which means your patient’s next meal or night of sleep matters more than their last floss.

This week, tell one patient:
“Your mouth might be showing us what your body’s going through.”
It could be the spark that changes everything.

All the best,

Dr Mike and Cathy