bristle_health

Great question! Intimate kissing (unfortunately) has been shown to impact the oral microbiome. Partners have been found to have more similar oral microbiomes than non-relatives. In a study of 21 couples, an intimate kiss did not lead to a significant additional increase of the average similarity of the oral microbiota between partners. However, clear correlations were observed between the similarity indices of the salivary microbiota of couples and self-reported kiss frequencies, and the reported time passed after the latest kiss. Bacteria transferred include those that have been shown to cause cavities and gum disease - so make sure your partner is brushing and flossing 😊

Probably should have done this AMA before Valentine's Day... my bad.
Source: [https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2049-2618-2-41\]([https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2049-2618-2-41](https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2049-2618-2-41))

- Danny

This really depends on the type of mouthwash. Many of them non-specifically kill microbes and reduce the overall microbial load in the mouth. This slash and burn approach that we’ve generally used for decades has a generally negative effect on the oral microbiome and came about before we had a better understanding of how the existing microbiome is important for preventing disease. In one example,a study showed that chlorhexidine mouthwash can result in relatively dramatic (and negative) shifts in the community. Depending on what is currently in your oral microbiome, the slash-and-burn approach might be beneficial for you, but possibly detrimental as well.

Studies have found tongue scraping and certain mouthwashes (those containing cetylpyridinium chloride, and sodium chlorite) may reduce the levels of these species without harming the beneficial microbes.

Shameless plug: Our test can give you a breakdown of the levels of sulfur compound-producing bacteria in your mouth to see if they are the cause of bad breath!

(This is my best answer without getting our very expensive lawyer responding on Reddit)

Data privacy is a top priority for us. We give you choices to control how your personal information is used, stored, or shared. We will never share your data without your consent, and will only ever do so in the name of advancing oral health research or your request.

We will use the data to advance research on the oral microbiome and oral health. This includes measuring how different interventions (oral care products, diet, etc.) impact the oral microbiome at the species level, so we can give personalized insights into how to promote good bacteria while eliminating just the bad - and ultimately developing more targeted and effective therapies/treatments. We also use aggregate, de-ID'd data for uncovering new biomarkers from the oral microbiome, which turn into new features for our users.

You own your personal data and control access to your results, so we can't "sell it" to companies. Insurance companies don't reimburse for our test which means we have no conflicting duties to provide them with your data (and can't anyway without your consent). In the future, I can imagine insurance companies being interested in accessing your data for better ("You have great oral health! Here's a lower premium.") or for worse ("You haven't been taking care of your oral health, and your rates may increase."). Honestly, we've barely scratched the surface with insurance given how novel our test is and how overlooked oral health has been. Ultimately, there are laws protecting your genomic data from being used by insurers to change your rates and I would assume something similar for our test - so you would (ideally) only benefit by getting rewarded for improving.

You can learn more about the steps we take for ensuring your privacy on our site. Let us know if you have any questions!

- Danny

Yes! The oral microbiome is closely linked to the gut microbiome. Some studies have shown associations between IBD, Crohn's disease, and even colorectal cancer with bacteria in the oral microbiome. Here are two recent reviews on the oral-gut axis.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33924899/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.620124/full