• Posted May 20, 2025

Oral Health Linked To Migraines, Fibromyalgia

Women who don’t brush and floss frequently are more likely to suffer from migraines and fibromyalgia, a new study says.

Women with the worst oral health have a 60% higher risk of moderate to severe body pain, and a 49% greater risk of migraine headaches, researchers reported in the journal Frontiers in Pain Research.

Mouth microbes that flourish with a lack of brushing and flossing are likely responsible for this link, researchers said.

“This is the first study to investigate oral health, oral microbiota and pain commonly experienced in women with fibromyalgia, with our study showing a clear and significant association between poor oral health and pain," senior researcher Joanna Harnett said in a news release. She is an associate professor of complementary medicines at the University of Sydney in Australia.

For the study, researchers analyzed data on 158 New Zealand women who had dental exams to check their oral health. Saliva samples were collected to see which microbes were present in the women's mouths.

The team then compared those results to women’s self-reported levels of pain, migraine and abdominal pain.

“Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, and headaches including headaches, as well as fatigue, sleep disturbances, and cognitive problems,” lead researcher Sharon Erdrich, a doctoral student at the University of Sydney, said in a news release.

Results showed that women with the poorest oral health were more likely to report higher levels of pain.

Four microbial species found in their mouths were significantly associated with pain, suggesting a potential cause, researchers noted.

They said many substances produced by microbes can affect pain signaling and inflammation in the body.

Poor oral health might allow these microbes to flourish, causing people to feel pain more intensely, researchers said.

“Our findings are particularly important to fibromyalgia which, despite being a common rheumatological condition, is often underrecognized,” Edrich said.

More information

Johns Hopkins Medicine has more on fibromyalgia.

SOURCE: University of Sydney, news release, April 9, 2025