The scientists in this study demonstrated that eating sugary foods can impact the oral microbiome of postmenopausal women and can cause systematic health issues. This was found through an investigation of carbohydrates and sugar on the composition of oral bacteria in a group of 1204 post-menopausal women.
Samples were taken of the subgingival plaque of these women which is located underneath their gums. “This is important because the oral bacteria involved in periodontal disease are primarily residing in the subgingival plaque,” according to Amy Millen the associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health at the School of Public Health at the university.
She continued to explain that “looking at measures of salivary bacteria might not tell us how oral bacteria relate to periodontal disease because we are not looking in the right environment within the mouth.”