Scientists discover harmful oral bacteria that cause other diseases

LONDON: A team of researchers has identified the bacteria most commonly found in severe oral infections, a discovery that can provide deeper insight into the association between oral bacteria and other diseases.

The study showed that the most common bacteria were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, while the most common genera were Streptococcus spp, Prevotella spp, and Staphylococcus spp.

Previous studies have demonstrated clear links between oral health and common diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now analysed samples collected between 2010 and 2020 at the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden from patients with severe oral infections and produced a list of the most common bacteria.

“We’re reporting here, for the first time, the microbial composition of bacterial infections from samples collected over a ten-year period in Stockholm County,” says professor Sallberg Chen of the Department of Dental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet.

“The results show that several bacterial infections with links to systemic diseases are constantly present and some have even increased over the past decade in Stockholm,” they added in the study published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.

“Our results provide new insight into the diversity and prevalence of harmful microbes in oral infections,” said Chen. “If a certain bacterium infects and causes damage in the mouth, it’s very likely that it can be harmful to tissues elsewhere in the body as the infection spreads,” the researcher noted.