I went for a quick mouth swab... the results gave me a scary reality check - here's how your saliva holds the key to health

As a wellness fanatic and beauty writer, I've spent hundreds of dollars on supplements, probiotics and at-home food sensitivity tests over the years, hoping to better understand my health.

I even attended three days of Dave Asprey's biohacking conference in Austin, Texas, in May, where I got to try out everything from hyperbaric oxygen tanks to human sound baths, and was exposed to more peptides than I could count. 

But as it turns out, the missing piece, the thing that gave me the clearest picture of what was really going on, was something much simpler: a quick mouth swab.

In longevity circles around the world, oral microbiome tests are emerging as one of the most important markers of your health, giving a window into your risks for potentially serious diseases like Alzheimer's.

'An oral microbiome test is like a DNA ancestry kit, but instead for the microscopic ecosystem (microbiome) of your mouth,' Dr Victoria Veytsman, New York City-based cosmetic dentist and founder of oral beauty brand, Rose Code, told the Daily Mail.

'These tests have been very common for the gut microbiome but not as much so for the oral microbiome - even though it can show you similar information about overall wellness a bit more easily!' Veytsman said.

All that it takes is a sample of saliva – which I gave to the dentist, but more on that later – and from there, 'advanced biotechnology sequences the genetic material of the bacteria, fungi, and viruses present in your mouth.' 

Not only is mouth bacteria linked to the mouth health itself, but it's also linked to your gut, respiratory, immune and cardiometabolic systems, and can also be a marker of women's health and fertility. 

'While most oral microbiome tests drive purely wellness insights, the test has the potential to identify high risk pathogens that are infamous for driving disease both inside the mouth and throughout the body,' Dr Veytsman told the Daily Mail.

'There are studies linking bacteria like P. gingivalis found in the mouth to not just gum disease but Alzheimer's and rheumatoid arthritis,' she said.

'Others have been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes and pancreatic cancer, breast, and colorectal cancers.'

So, with all of this in mind, I decided to try an oral microbiome test myself to see what was going on inside my body.

I headed to Dr Veytsman's office on Central Park West, where she took a swab of my mouth that took less than a minute.

After thirty seconds of swishing my mouth with saline, I spat into a tube, which was then tested for over 11 kinds of bacteria. 

A few weeks later, when I got my results back, I learned that they had found four of the 11 bacteria tested in my mouth.

My test, which was analyzed by Dr Veytsman, found fusobacterium nucleatum, eikenella corrodens and capnocytophaga species.

Fusobacterium nucleatum is a pathogen that's primarily linked to gum disease, colon cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and even preterm birth, according to The Forsyth Institute.  

If I have more dental plaque buildup in my mouth, bacteria such as fusobacterium nucleatum, are more likely to increase.  

These bacteria can then enter the bloodstream, particularly if the gums are inflamed or bleeding, and may reach other parts of the body. 

Researchers are still studying whether this spread contributes to certain diseases, but having the bacteria in the bloodstream does not necessarily mean it will cause disease – it can just be a potential marker. 

Eikenella corrodens are often linked to periodontal diseases and rare heart infections, while capnocytophaga species have been associated with ocular and respiratory tract infections. 

'The mouth is not just a window to overall health, but I believe it is a lever that can be adjusted that can have real measurable downstream effects,' Dr Veytsman told the Daily Mail. 

'Gum tissue is highly vascular which means it is packed with blood vessels. When your gums are healthy, they act as a seal,' the celebrity dentist said.

'When they are inflamed, that barrier becomes permeable and we essentially get what we call "leaky mouth," similar to what you would find in "leaky gut." This allows aggressive oral pathogens to enter your bloodstream directly, where they can travel to your heart, brain, gut, and joints,' the dentist shared.

My results came as a shock to me since I take my mouth health very seriously, and am diligent about getting my teeth cleaned every six months. 

I brush my teeth twice a day, and floss.  

But thankfully, they were at levels that were all considered within normal limits – but this is something that could change in the blink of an eye. 

'It's not just the presence of [bacteria] in the mouth, it's their levels, and the diversity score, what it coexists with in the mouth,' Dr Veytsman told the Daily Mail.

'It's the kind of thing where we say, you've got a presence, and we just have to monitor your mouth clinically,' she said.  

As she reviewed my swab, Dr Veytsman told me that my test results showed that I was also at immediate risk for interleukin-6 production. 

It's a protein that shows genetic predisposition for inflammation, a CG-genotype.

I was in the intermediate risk category for inflammation in my immune system, she explained to me. 

Inflammation is a root cause for gum disease, and chronic inflammation can be a contributing factor for certain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, among others. 

But when it comes to your health, knowledge is power.

Now that I have had my oral microbiome tested, I know that I need to go in for more consistent monitoring, and be even more diligent when it comes to my oral health. 

'If you are interested in healthspan, longevity, and preventative health I do recommend the oral microbiome test as part of the longevity testing stack,' Dr Veytsman said.

'Deep sequencing salivary diagnostics is not yet the standard of care at every routine dental checkup, but they are actually an available tool to explore online through D2C companies,' she shared.

'If you have a history of unexplained cavities, failing dental work, or persistent bleeding gums, or halitosis I recommend this test,' she said.

'It is also recommended if you have a family or personal history of cardiovascular disease, autoimmune conditions, or Alzheimer's.'