Smoking greatly changes the balance of mouth bacteria that includes about 600 microbe species living in human mouths, based on a new study. It builds on the work of other researchers who studied microorganism populations living in the stomach, and immune disorders including Crohn's disease. This latest study is a step forward in learning if microbial changes are linked to oral cancers, of which over three-quarters are linked to smoking.     

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The study was led by New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center. It was published online on March 25, Friday in the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) Journal.

NYU researchers claimed that their study is the most comprehensive one using genetic testing to study the effects of smoking on mouth bacteria. Dr. Jiyoung Ahn is an epidemiologist and the study's senior researcher. She stated that it is the first study to suggest smoking has a big effect on the "oral microbiome."

The NYU Langone research team reviewed mouthwash samples from about 1,200 American men and women who are part of cancer risk studies funded by the American Cancer Society (ACS) and National Institutes of Health (NIH). All of the volunteers were at least 50 years old and included 112 smokers, 571 ex-smokers, and 521 people who had never smoked.

Researchers used tests and statistics to identify the thousands of bacteria in each volunteer's mouth. They found a big difference in oral bacteria of people who had never smoked and participants who had kicked the habit. They also discovered that after people had stopped smoking for at least a decade their microbial balance bounced back, according to Science Daily.

Ahn stated that more experiments are needed to prove that the changes make it more difficult for the body to protect itself from cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke, or if they cause other diseases in the mouth, gut, or lungs.   

In related news, another new study shows that a Twitter-based program has twice the success rate as traditional methods for helping smokers put out their last cigarette, according to Time. It was funded by NIH. The study examined how useful social media peers are in helping people quit smoking.  

In this video Dr. Oz takes up if quitting smoking causes weight gain: