Modern hygienic practices are applied to avoid exposure to pathogens that spread via fecal-oral transmission. Despite this, the gastrointestinal tract is quickly colonized by fecal microbes. The hands are an important vector for the transmission of microbes, but the frequency at which fecal and oral microbes exist on hands and the source of those microbes have not been extensively described. Us...

EDITORIAL article Front. Oral. Health, 22 September 2023Sec. Oral Infections and Microbes Volume 4 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2023.1293228

The oral cavity harbors a diverse community of microbes that are physiologically unique. Oral microbes that exist in this polymicrobial environment can be pathogenic or beneficial to the host. Numerous oral microbes contribute to the formation of dental caries and periodontitis; however, there is little understanding of the role these microbes play in systemic infections. There is mounting evid...

THE CLASSIC DENTAL DISEASES, CARies and periodontal disease, are commonly thought to have little effect on systemic health. These diseases result from infections by microbes with highly specific adhesion mechanisms in the mouth. Systemic disease resulting from infectious oral microbes is generally recognized to occur in patients with immunological and nutritional deficiencies, such as when indi...