Gum Disease Prevention – How You Can Help

Keeping your gums healthy during the second lockdown

We are already a quarter of the way through the second national lockdown to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus. It is thought that even as this comes to an end on 2nd December, there are likely to still be some significant restrictions in place, possibly reverting to the previous ‘tier’ system. Despite the positive news of a likely vaccine, these few weeks and perhaps months, might still be a challenging time for many of us.

With stress and anxiety often come a number of coping mechanisms. Whilst these are understandable and sometimes necessary, they are not without potential consequences and some can have an impact on our gums and overall oral health. In today’s blog, the Alexandra Dental Care team take a look at some of the issues which may arise.

Changes to routines and coping mechanisms

Many of you are likely to be working from home again and this can have advantages as well as disadvantages. It does mean that many of us will not have our usual routine to stick to and that can create some challenges.

Some of us will probably clean our teeth at a certain time in the morning so that they are clean before we leave for work. If we are working from home, we don’t have that time restriction and may even forget to brush our teeth altogether. We recommend that if you are working from home, you create a new routine and stick to it, naturally making sure that brushing your teeth has its place.

Some of us will also have a sweet tooth, but one that is sometimes held back at work due to a lack of access to sugary supplies. At home, this isn’t an issue and we might find ourselves raiding the biscuit tin more often than we really should. If you are prone to snacking, make sure sweets and biscuits are kept well away from where you are working and keep a supply of tooth friendly snacks close to hand for when you get the urge to ‘nibble’.

One big concern amongst dentists is that the stress and strains of lockdown, perhaps for those who are most isolated, is that some people could revert to their previous smoking and drinking habits. As you will know from previous blogs, both smoking and excess alcohol consumption are very bad news for your teeth and gums. In addition to this, the risk of oral cancer is significantly higher amongst this group. If you feel yourself getting the urge to smoke or drink to excess, please seek professional help before it’s too late.

Our practice is open!

Patients from Burton, Ashby and Swadlincote can breathe a sigh of relief. Unlike the last lockdown, Alexandra Dental Care is open for appointments and you should attend as normal. We have updated our Covid-19 advice on our website and you can read it here.

One thing that is worth noting and will help you keep your mouth health in good condition is that access to a dental hygienist is still relatively easy and is a great way to help maintain healthy gums, avoiding problems like gum disease and halitosis. We do recommend that all of our patients take advantage of this, even if you have not done so before. Those who have not previously attended have found that as well as improving their oral health, it leaves them with a cleaner and fresher mouth along with the removal of some surface teeth staining which provides them with nicer looking teeth.

If you need to make an appointment or have any questions at all, including those related to the Covid-19 situation, please do call our Burton and Ashby dental clinic on 01283 216347.

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