I've looked into the oral microbiome a bit. My impression is that there are bad bacteria and worse bacteria, and you kind of want to prevent anything from growing on your teeth.
That's mirrored the advice I got from my (Boston area, research adjacent) dentists on cavity prevention, which is mostly to use the newer zero-alcohol mouthwashes. The big developments recently in dentistry are new antimicrobials in toothpaste and mouthwash to keep the bacteria load in your mouth relatively low.
There's also been some recent work in FISH microscopy of oral microbiome samples, which shows they've got a crazy level of spatial organization. It's really pretty, and might be pretty hard to disrupt with a single engineered bacteria. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1522149113
Way back in the 1970s, I had a short piece published in Omni Magazine proposing "an ecological approach" to dental decay. I suggested that we identify people with perfect teeth, isolate and cultivate the strains of bacteria in their mouths, and then use those strains to inoculate the mouths of infants.
Afterward, I heard from several people that it is an established custom in some families for an adult with no cavities to rub a finger in their mouth and then rub it around on a baby's gums. Apparently, it works...sort of. The problem is that babies put so many things in their mouths that other bacteria can easily get added to the mix. Still, the founding culture gets a head start and can often fend off the interlopers.
I've looked into the oral microbiome a bit. My impression is that there are bad bacteria and worse bacteria, and you kind of want to prevent anything from growing on your teeth.
That's mirrored the advice I got from my (Boston area, research adjacent) dentists on cavity prevention, which is mostly to use the newer zero-alcohol mouthwashes. The big developments recently in dentistry are new antimicrobials in toothpaste and mouthwash to keep the bacteria load in your mouth relatively low.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8037529/
There's also been some recent work in FISH microscopy of oral microbiome samples, which shows they've got a crazy level of spatial organization. It's really pretty, and might be pretty hard to disrupt with a single engineered bacteria. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1522149113
Way back in the 1970s, I had a short piece published in Omni Magazine proposing "an ecological approach" to dental decay. I suggested that we identify people with perfect teeth, isolate and cultivate the strains of bacteria in their mouths, and then use those strains to inoculate the mouths of infants.
Afterward, I heard from several people that it is an established custom in some families for an adult with no cavities to rub a finger in their mouth and then rub it around on a baby's gums. Apparently, it works...sort of. The problem is that babies put so many things in their mouths that other bacteria can easily get added to the mix. Still, the founding culture gets a head start and can often fend off the interlopers.
Acne vaccines and antibiotics seem like a related idea:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acne#Research
I wonder if a vaccine could be developed against opportunistic bacteria in bacterial vaginosis? EDIT: It looks like AmVac had a phase III trial for GyneVac which is intended to treat BV (https://www.fiercepharma.com/vaccines/amvac-initiates-phase-iii-trial-its-lead-vaccine-gynevac-for-treatment-of-bacterial)
Presumably a similar approach could be used to prevent body odor and halitosis.