New research suggests the answers for better pain management for migraines and more might just be inside your mouth.
Get a Lot of Headaches? Your Dental Health May Be to Blame
Published on May 07, 2025
We already know the relationship between our mouths and the rest of bodies is quite important—proper oral hygiene habits have been linked to the prevention of both heart disease and stroke, as well as decreasing some cancer risks.
But for the estimated 39 million Americans who experience migraines, according to the American Migraine Association—and the 4 million with fibromyalgia, per Cleveland Clinic—a new study suggests there’s also a link between oral health and the pain levels associated with these conditions.
Published last month in the journal Frontiers in Pain Research, the study claims to be the world’s first to identify specific oral microbes (microorganisms living inside the mouth) in connection with certain pain conditions, per a University of Sydney press release.
Because the mouth is “the portal to the gastrointestinal tract,” a research team representing the University of Sydney in Australia, in addition to two American researchers, decided to look at three key things in their research:
- Self-reported oral health
- Oral microbiome
- Pain in women
A total of 168 women in New Zealand took part in the study, though oral microbiome data was only available for 158. The women provided saliva samples and provided several types of health surveys, including the World Health Organization’s oral health questionnaire and the International Headache Society’s survey.
Ultimately, study participants with the poorest oral health were 60% more likely to experience moderate to severe body pains. “The findings highlight the importance of good oral health to potentially mitigate pain and improve overall wellbeing, prompting further exploration into the role of oral microbiota in chronic unexplained pain conditions,” per the press release.
Also, “lower oral health was a statistically significant predictor of frequent and chronic migraine,” as individuals with poor oral health were 49% more likely to have migraine headaches.
The team flagged several types of health conditions that could benefit from the research, including migraine, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These are all known as central sensitization disorders.
The researchers were particularly excited for how their findings could also affect patients with fibromyalgia. Of the study’s participants, 67% had fibromyalgia.
As “a common rheumatological condition,” fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that goes underrecognized, said Sharon Erdrich, a lead study author and PhD candidate at the University of Sydney.
Further studies should be done to see if oral health improvement, and promoting a microbiome balance known as “eubiosis,” can lower pain levels in patients with central sensitization disorders, concluded the team.
There was also a “weak” but possibly significant connection between someone’s diet quality and their oral health, but the press release cautioned the link needs to be further examined.
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