In a recent post on dry mouth as well as an earlier post, I emphasis that the mouth can often be a reserve for dysfunctional bacteria that may repopulate the gut. Beyond traditional good mouth hygiene (water pick, brushing, hydrogen peroxide mouth rinse), the use of oral probiotics should be consider to dislodge existing bacteria. These should usually be taken after the above hygiene.

There are many oral probiotics out there today. I have extracted a table, shown below, with the species as well as the cost per billion Community Forming Units (B-CFU). The cost varies greatly from a low of 8 cents per B-CFU to a high of $5.50 — ouch!

Oral Probiotics are marketed for one purpose, reduce cavities. We are actually doing an “off-label” usage – altering the mouth microbiome. This means that we actually want multi-species oral probiotics and not single strains that are cavity specific (K12, M18, JH145).

I would recommend the following two as starters.

• Swanson Oral Probiotic
• PRO-Dental: Probiotics for Oral & Dental Health 3

Why?

• Price
• But more critical, both contain L.Reuteri and no  L. Acidophilus
  • The absence or low level of L.Reuteri is associated with many symptoms seen in CFS

Remember, the dosage on the package is for normal healthy individuals — I usually do double that dosage for therapeutic.

Side Note/Pleasant Surprise: While doing Christmas stuff, I nicked a finger and was pleasantly surprised that it bleed easily (profusely may be a better description) despite not having taken any anti-coagulants for a week. This could be interpreted as suggesting that at least some coagulation factors are significantly impacted by the microbiome/probiotics.