I have quality spit

As is typical of most people in India even now, I never went to a dentist through all those 23 years I lived there.  Even after coming to to the US, I didn't go to a dentist until my third year, when the damn wisdom teeth had to be extracted.

The first time I went to a dentist was after I got my first full-time job.  Dental insurance was a part of the benefits package, and this included a dental hygiene checkup/cleaning every six months.

The dental hygienist was shocked that I had never been to a dentist all my life until then.  And lived without cavities too.

I rarely ever kept up with the six-monthly dental cleaning.  I couldn't be bothered with flossing either.  Occasionally, I would pick up the floss, and give it up halfway ;)

In Eugene, I liked the dentist and the hygienist.  I have been faithfully going there for a check up every six months.  The hygienist added me to their zero-cavity club, as if I needed a motivation to brush my teeth every day ;)

Early on, she always asked me how I have no cavities.  I told her that my siblings too have no cavities, and that we never had dental checkup ever.

She decided that it was something in our genetic makeup.

Recently, she commented that perhaps my saliva has lots of minerals, which keep the teeth health but add to the plaque.

Turns out that her observation might be on the mark. It is all about the saliva in my mouth.  It is healthy saliva.  Made healthy by the bacteria.  Which means it is all about the oral microbiome.

We know that the microbiome in our guts are critical.  It turns out that even people who are meticulous about brushing and flossing can get cavities.  Because the microbiome in our mouths are also important.

Does the bacteria cause the cavities, or are the bacteria and the cavities together a response to some other factor? Nobody knows. On top of this, your oral microbiome isn’t static. It changes over the course of your life, over the course of the day and even from one part of your mouth to another, Knight said. What does that mean for the idea of changing the oral microbiome? Again, nobody knows.

The good bacteria are working to remineralize the teeth thanks to the healthy oral microbiome.  And that's what my dental hygienist observed.  The next time, I need to remember to tell her about the bacterial science.

So, the corollary ... can the oral microbiome be transplanted to another mouth that doesn't have the good bacteria?  Recall the fecal transplant to improve the gut microbiome?  How about a spit transplant?