29/8/2014

Oral bacteria: How many? How fast? - Registered Dental Hygienist

Login or Register using

HOME

Home

CURRENT ISSUE

ARCHIVES

DENTAL HYGIENE

RDH PRODUCTS

DIGITAL MAGAZINE

SUBSCRIBE

MOBILE

Oral bacteria: How many? How fast?

Open +

Oral bacteria: How many? How fast?

by Bill Landers
bforums@oratec.net
Ever wondered how many bacteria are in the mouth? Or how fast they multiply?
Nobody knows for sure. We dont even know exactly how many species there are, let alone how to count them or how fast
they grow. Estimates of the number of bacterial species in the oral cavity vary between 500 to 650 different species. They
live on the teeth and tongue, of course, but biofilms also cover the cheeks and oral mucosa.
One scientist, Dr. Walter Loesche from the University of Michigan, conceived an elegant method of estimating both the
total number of oral microbes and how fast they grow. He outlines the method in his book, Caries, A Treatable Infection.

How many?
We do know a few facts. Researchers (very patient researchers) have painstakingly harvested all the plaque from every
surface of every tooth. It weighs, on average, about 10 mg. But the teeth only comprise 1/20 of all the oral surfaces. You
have to multiply the 10 mg from the teeth by 20 to get the total biomass including cheeks, tongue, etc.
We also know that 1 mg of oral biomass typically contains about 100 million microbes. By multiplying the number of
microbes in 1 mg by 20, we get the total number of microbes in the entire oral cavity.
100 million microbes x 20 mg biomass = 20 billion oral microbes.

How fast?
We know that some species of oral bacteria can double their numbers every 20 minutes under ideal conditions in a Petri
dish. In the mouth, though, species have to compete with each other, and conditions are not always as idyllic as in the lab.
For instance, some people actually inhibit bacterial growth by brushing their teeth and tongue!
So, how does one calculate the in vivo growth rate of oral bacteria if it cant be measured in vivo? Dr. Loesche showed that
one could calculate it indirectly from two other known facts. We know that the average person swallows about 1 liter (1,000
milliliters) of saliva daily. We also know that 1 ml. of saliva contains about 100 million microbes. Multiplying 1,000 ml of
saliva by 100 million (microbes per ml.) gives us 100 billion. Thats the number of microbes in the saliva we swallow
every 24 hours.

Click here to enlarge image

Lastly, and this is Dr. Loesches great insight, almost all of those billions of microbes that we swallow began their lives in
an oral biofilm. Thus, despite only having (at any given time) 20 billion microbes in our mouths, we nevertheless swallow
100 billion! Five times more than we have. So, those 20 billion microbes in our mouths must be producing and shedding
100 billion additional microbes every day. Thats five times their original number. Said another way, they are doubling their
numbers five times every 24 hours. Dividing 24 hours by 5 = 4.8 hours, the amount of time it takes for the microbes in our
mouths to double their number.

http://www.rdhmag.com/articles/print/volume-29/issue-7/columns/the-landers-file/oral-bacteria-how-many-how-fast.html

1/2

29/8/2014

Oral bacteria: How many? How fast? - Registered Dental Hygienist

Those calculations are based on average numbers. The actual numbers may be even higher. We cant identify all the
bacterial species, for example, so were probably undercounting some. The average reproductive rate may be faster too.
Some newly-made bacteria must die before they can be shed as daughter cells into the saliva.
Whatever the actual number might be, its huge with a rapid growth rate. Fast enough to impress even the most casual
brusher. If your patients arent brushing regularly, try motivating them with some facts. There are 20 billion bacteria in your
mouth and they reproduce every five hours. If you go 24 hours without brushing, those 20 billion become 100 billion!

About the Author

Bill Landers has been president of OraTec Corp. since 1992. He is also a leading expert on chairside and laboratory
periodontal risk assessment technologies, and his essays on periodontal disease have been published in several dental
hygiene journals. Landers has presented hundreds of continuing education seminars on the microbiology of periodontal
diseases.

SOCIAL MEDIA
RELATED ARTICLES
Linking Dermatology and Dentistry
Product Report
MOST RECENT
Piezo scaler, fluoride varnish
A dangerous new fad
Matching rinses to individuals
When you've had enough, when is it
OK to fire difficult patients?
DENTISTRYIQ TOPICS
Products
Clinical
Practice Management
Dental Hygiene

Front office
Continuing Education
RDH Products
Marketplace

Community
Events

Contributing Factors to the Oral

Effects of Schizophrenia
Exit right
Product Report

General
1421 S. Sheridan Road
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74112
(800) 331-4463
Copyright 2014: PennWell
Corporation All Rights Reserved

Topic Centers

PennWell

Home

Events

Products

Clinical

Pennwell

About Us

RSS

Practice Mgmt.

Dental Hygiene

View All Pennwell Websites

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Front Office

Continuing Ed.

View All Pennwell Events

Contact Us

RDH Products

Marketplace

Sitemap

Subscribe

Community

Webmaster

http://www.rdhmag.com/articles/print/volume-29/issue-7/columns/the-landers-file/oral-bacteria-how-many-how-fast.html

2/2