Drinking alcohol could negatively affect your oral health

New research in Microbiome has found that drinking alcohol, particularly heavy drinking, could negatively affect the oral microbiome found in the mouth. Regular drinkers in the study conducted by Jiyoung Ahn, PhD and epidemiologist at the New York University School of Medicine, had more Bacteroidales, Actinomyces, and Neisseria, so-called bad bacteria, in their mouth.

Jiyoung Ahn said: “We know that alcohol is a risk factor for many other diseases. This is another scientific rationale, or justification, that heavy drinking is not recommended. We should avoid heavy drinking in terms of maintaining a healthy microbiome.”
The London Tooth Wear Centre also highlighted the risk of alcohol induced tooth wear, impressing that patients must be informed that alcohol is highly erosive because of its acidity, especially when if people drink a lot, regularly and over many years.