“Standard hygienist cleanings and deep cleanings, tooth extractions, basically any procedures that might compromise the surface of the gums and cause bleeding could really undermine your immunity at this time”

— Meliors Simms -

Did you know the mucous membranes on the inside of your mouth so the inside of your cheeks, the pink part of the gum that you can see, your tongue, the palate, all of that is really porous and it's a gateway into the bloodstream?Meliors Simms explores how the oral microbiome impacts our immunity with loads of practical help on what to do about keeping good oral health even if the coronavirus pandemic means that dental surgeries may close for the foreseeable future.Inspire yourself with these essential insights from Meliors Simms

We spoke aboutMelior’s well-being journeyThe role of the oral microbiome in the immune systemHow the corona virus (covid-19) pandemic is impacting dental servicesWhy we can't continue dental business as usual during pandemicWhat preventative maintenance you can do at home if you have to postpone a scheduled cleaning or check-up at your dentistWhat to do if you are in the middle of a treatment schedule and have a temporary filling or major procedure planned soonWhat should you do if you have a dental issue while in social isolation or lockdownWhat would be best practice for a serious dental emergency if it escalated during pandemicMelior’s tip for Living FabulouslyIf you got value from this episode if you have not yet done so please Subscribe, Rate and Review on iTunes or Stitcher. You can follow the instructions here.  If you know someone else that would get value from this episode as well please share it with them.Until next time fabulous podcast listener, I’m Bev and I invite you to live the fab life with me now!

































Partial TranscriptWhat is the role of this oral microbiome and its relationship to the immune system?So the oral microbiome is a community of between 300 and 800 different bacteria, different types of bacteria in your mouth, and there's like, billions and billions of total numbers of bacteria in your mouth. And there's nothing wrong with any of those bacteria except when they get out of balance. So that's when you get problems like gum disease or tooth decay or dry mouth or any of the other well known problems that people experience in their mouth. It's an imbalance of the bacteria. So the mucous membranes on the inside of your mouth so the inside of your cheeks, the pink part of the gum that you can see, your tongue, the palate, all of that is really porous and it's a gateway into the bloodstream. It's a mechanism for your body to investigate whatever's coming in your mouth, breath, food, liquids, pollen particles, anything that's coming in, through the mouth, is kind of investigated by the body via these mucous membranes so they like a little computer in a way, making sense of the world. You know  how babies put was putting everything in their mouths? Well as adults we're not doing that in the same way, but the body is still kind of on this journey of discovery.Saliva is like a major player in the immune system. And also inside each individual tooth is like a little individual immune system operating inside each tooth. And it's a very complex system. There's more nerves in the jaw and then around the jaw than anywhere else in the body. They're really densely packed and they're really fine. That's why you feel toothache so intensely, if you do have problems.Inflammation is probably the most well understood impact on our health and that is the result of the immune system being triggered by bacterial imbalance (dysbiosis) in the mouth or by foreign things coming in and we get inflamed and in the gums. A lot of adul