Your Oral Health Care During Lockdown

Advice from Alexandra Dental Care on looking after your teeth during the Covid-19 restrictions.

The inability to go out and mix with others is hard for most of us, and some of us are probably struggling with a number of aspects of our enforced isolation. As the advice goes though, this is so important and we strongly encourage patients to adhere to the government guidelines for the sake of us all.

Unfortunately, the lock down means that our dental practice is closed until April 14th. This may even be extended further depending on the advice/instructions that we are given. Although, in the greater scheme of things, dental care may not seem too important to some people, tooth decay and/or gum disease are just going to make things feel worse than they are now. In today’s blog, we offer advice to our Ashby and Burton patients about how they can help their teeth and gums stay healthy until things start to return to something like normal.

Keep to your cleaning routine

One of the most important things that you can do is to keep your regular daily teeth cleaning regime, or better still, take some time to improve it. Make sure that you brush your teeth well both morning and last thing at night, and use floss as well. If you have young children, their usual routine may well have vanished and, as parents or carers, you may need to be more proactive about making sure that they clean their teeth well.

Avoid too many comfort foods

We are all entitled to use whatever methods are appropriate to make this time as acceptable as possible. You don’t need to use the time to learn five languages or develop a six pack, although if this works for you, then that is great too. Most of us will find things to do that we are interested in but are also likely to have periods where we feel bored and frustrated at a lack of normality in our lives. These are the times when we may well reach out for ‘comfort’ foods that make us feel better about ourselves.  Unfortunately, these are very likely to be high in tooth damaging sugars.

We are not saying that you shouldn’t have the occassional treat, but we do advise that you try to eat sugary foods as little as possible for the sake of your teeth. As it is no longer possible or advisable to just ‘pop to the shop’ if we want a chocolate bar, we can make sure to buy only a limited amount of sweets when we do our weekly shopping. Instead of sweets, perhaps look for more tooth friendly foods to get you through those more difficult times.

What if you get the virus?

The symptoms and degree of suffering of those who get this virus seem to differ greatly; from almost no symptoms to very severe. Aside from common symptoms such as a cough and fever, one effect is that most people feel completely exhausted and almost unable to get out of bed for days. The most important thing to say, of course, is to look after yourself and follow the advice from reliable sources such as the NHS website ( https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ ). Do also use the 111 service if you are feeling really unwell or are anxious about your symptoms.

Although your oral health care will feel secondary at this time; if at all possible, do try to clean your teeth at the very least. If you are so exhausted that you miss a day, just try to reinstate the cleaning as soon as you can. Even a half hearted brushing is better than no brushing at all.

Drinking water and staying hydrated is also important and also good for washing away bacteria and food debris from your mouth.

Getting back on track

When this is all over, whenever that may be; we would recommend that you arrange to have your teeth professionally cleaned by our dental hygienist. Some may need this more than others but everyone can benefit from the removal of hardened bacteria and mineral deposits that may have built up on our teeth during this time. The ‘scale and polish’ procedure is a great way to return your teeth and gums to a healthy condition.

We also offer a wide range of both restorative and cosmetic dental treatments for you to take advantage of when things return to normal. In fact, why not use this time to read up on some of the treatments that we supply and plan for the longer term?

Above all else, please try to do all that you can to stay safe and help to prevent the spread of this dangerous virus. We hope that you manage to keep your teeth and gums healthy whilst we are closed, but in the case of a serious dental emergency, our Ashby, Swadlincote and Burton patients can contact Alexandra Dental Care on our usual phone number – 01283 216347 – where you will hear advice.

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