Alcoholic Drinks Kill Good Mouth Bacteria But Leave The Bad

Heavy alcohol usage can cause a multitude of health problems, but researchers have found that it can also have a negative effect on your oral health. Research has found that heavy drinkers have more bad mouth bacteria, and less of the good bacteria.

This imbalance of the mouth flora can cause cavities, bad breath, tooth loss, and more. In addition to these problems, it can also cause bleeding gums, which seems trivial but is actually an open wound in the mouth that can allow bad bacteria into the blood stream.

This oral bacteria imbalance may be caused by the alcohol itself, or it can be from the dry mouth resulting from heavy drinking as moisture in the mouth is vital to the development of good bacteria.

There are some steps, however, that you can take to prevent these problems:

  • Aside from reducing or stopping your alcohol consumption, be sure to drink lots of water. Not only will it rinse the mouth, but it will keep you hydrated and prevent dry mouth.
  • Be sure to brush your teeth using a gentle toothpaste, use an alcohol-free mouth rinse, and always use a soft toothbrush.
  • Be sure to floss as there is no better way to remove leftover food from between the teeth.

Key Points:

  • 1Drinking alcohol can be bad for your teeth and gums.
  • 2There is a fine balance between good and bad bacteria in your mouth.
  • 3The way to combat this imbalance is to drink water after drinking alcohol.


The easiest way to diminish the negative effects of alcohol on the mouth is by increasing your water intake.
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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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