Ever wondered why it's so important to brush your teeth and tongue three times a day, here's why. Bacteria accumulate quickly when left unchecked, and this is true as well in your mouth, here is an image of bacteria that would be under your tongue if not given the proper care.
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Where Would The Bacteria Live?
Along with the areas of your epithelial cells reside bacteria that you may never have noticed until now. Different types of bacteria are living in harmony under your tongue, and you would never have thought about it, because in all honesty, why would you since it is something you usually wouldn't think about.
Streptococci are oxygen loving, spherical species that loiter around the outskirts of your tongue since it has greater exposure to air that gives them life. Actinomyces, on the other hand, like to be at the center of the bottom of your tongue. Rothia and other bacteria prefer to populate between the two borders.
Jessica Mark Welch, who hails from Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, has explained to Smithsonian Magazine had this to say. "What was really a surprise was to see how organised they were. It tells us a lot about how they are working together,"
According to Welch, the Streptococci, who resides in the outermost ring, create a low-oxygen zone in the interior of this metropolis. This, in turn, is being occupied by bacteria that prefer and thrive under anaerobic conditions.
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What Do These Bacteria Under The Tongue Do?
The bacteria under your tongue "excrete" protective slime, forming a thriving and densely packed biofilm on your tongue.
Welch had this to say about it, "Bacteria behave differently in a biofilm," he also added, "There are parts of their metabolism they only turn on in a biofilm, and they tend to be more resistant to antibiotics and changes in the environment."
There are over 700 different species that are living under your nose, rather your tongue. Large communities are vastly different from those found elsewhere inside your mouths, like, for example, your teeth.
Gary Borisy, a cellular biologist from Harvard University, had this to say, "Bacteria on the tongue are a lot more than just a random pile. They are more like an organ of our bodies,"
Bacteria such as Actinomyces and Veillonella are capable of turning nitrate, which is commonly found in our leafy green foods. This is to create the compound nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide is used for dilating blood vessels to control our blood pressure. However, this nitrate reaction is not something that they are capable of doing themselves.
Borisy and his colleagues captured these images of bacteria under a tongue using a fluorescent imagining technique that is unique to them since they developed it, called the CLASI-FISH. They used these on tongue scrape samples from over 21 healthy volunteers. All research they did was published in Cell Reports.
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