What should we do for our oral and dental health during the coronavirus period?
The world is going through difficult times. We are facing an epidemic. Although the epidemic is new for us, there have always been epidemics in the world. In the light of reason and science, this epidemic will one day disappear and stop.
We must keep our body resistance high during this period.
Dr Mehmet Öz listed the virus measures as follows: Get enough sleep, exercise regularly, moisturise the air you breathe, do not shake hands, do not touch your face. Use vitamin C and zinc. All these recommendations are useful for oral dental health…
We were suddenly caught by this virus and its effects. We always warn our patients. Have your oral and dental health checked before entering the pregnancy period. Do not have bleeding gums. If you have gum problems, we say that the palm-sized area is a direct infection area. We also warn diabetics. If your gum health is in place, we say that it is easier to control your sugar. If you have caries in your mouth, this is a food place for direct microorganisms. The microorganism shelters here, that is, in the caries area, and continues to reproduce in that area. This is also valid for virus.
If we knew that such an epidemic would come, of course, we would produce a solution with the problems we neglected in our oral and dental health beforehand, but we may have been caught without precautions. For this reason, let’s not forget that the health of your mouth is important when we say do not take your hand to your mouth.
For this reason, let’s not neglect our routine oral care. If there is bleeding in our gums, if the cause of this bleeding is dental calculus, have the dental calculus cleaned as soon as the quarantine process is over. But the best treatment during the quarantine period is regular tooth brushing. There is no need to brush hard, or there is no need to brush blood to blood. It is necessary to brush regularly from the gum to the tooth. Make sure that the paste you use is as good for gum health as possible. Prefer toothpastes containing natural fresheners such as mint, eucalyptus, liquorice and cloves. Cleaning between the teeth with dental floss, brushing the inside of the tongue and cheek are among the routine cleaning methods.
Mouthwashes containing 1% hydrogen peroxide or 0.2% povidone iodine are effective mouthwashes against the corona virus. This mouthwash is the mouthwash recommended by the ADA and TDB (Turkish Dental Association) for mouth disinfection before dental treatment. You can obtain 1% hydrogen peroxide by mixing the OXYGENATED WATER sold in pharmacies with normal water. You can use it as a mouthwash by mixing a cap of oxygenated water with 2 caps of normal drinking water.
CONSUMPTION OF HERBAL TEAS is beneficial for your oral dental health in this period. SDA TEA, GREEN TEA is antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Catechins in green tea have strong antioxidant properties and have anti-inflammatory effect. It can be consumed like normal tea and can also be used in the production of natural mouthwash.
Natural mouthwashes made with sage and sea salt soothe gum disorders. Sage and sea salt mouthwash is antiseptic, so wounds heal more quickly. Provides antiseptic in the mouth.
* 1 glass of boiling water
* 2 teaspoons sage (dry)
* 1 teaspoon rock salt
Pour the boiled water slowly over the sage and salt in a jar, close the lid and shake it occasionally. Leave for 10 minutes, strain and after cooling, you can use it as an oral care mouthwash after brushing. The content should not be kept for more than one day. If you prepare it fresh in the morning, you can use it throughout the day.
Salt water is good for your mouth sores. Put half a teaspoon of rock salt in 1 tea glass of warm water and gargle 3 times a day. Hypertension and kidney patients should not do this application. Instead of gargling, they should apply salty water to the wounded points with the help of cotton wool and gargle with clear water after 5 minutes. This is a treatment method that you can do yourself at home. Maybe you had a tooth extracted or an implant inserted before quarantine. Gargling with salt water helps the wound healing in this area.
TEA TREE OIL
Flossing daily is the best way to keep your mouth healthy. If you want to go a step further, add a little tea tree oil to the floss. The oil acts as a natural disinfectant that reduces bacteria. Adding tea tree oil to your daily floss will help with bleeding gums. You can find it in herbalists.
You can increase your water consumption. This also has a detox effect.
STRESS triggers the appearance of AFT in the mouth. For this reason, if you have aphthae in the mouth during this period when stress is at its peak, first review your food and beverage habits. In particular, it is necessary to stay away from acidic foods (such as meat, citrus fruits, tomatoes, pineapple, vinegar). While almost everyone recommends mouthwash with vinegar to each other during this period, know that vinegar increases the formation of AFT. You can make the acidic mouth environment basic by gargling with carbonated water. ORAL PROBIOTICS Probiotics are beneficial for our oral health and there are oral probiotics that you can use daily. Probiotics are useful in the treatment of tooth decay and gum disease. The more good bacteria accumulate in your mouth, the better your defence against bad bacteria. Your mouth becomes a strong barrier. You can make mouthwash with olive oil. Especially when going out, olive oil makes isolation in the mouth. It prevents germ and virus attachment. MAKE SURE YOUR TOOTHBRUSH IS CLEAN. Rinse your toothbrush thoroughly after use: Before and after each use, rinse your toothbrush in water for 10 seconds – but make sure your hands are clean before doing this. In other words, wash your hands thoroughly beforehand using the 20-second rule. Make sure that your toothbrush is clean and sufficiently clear. STORE YOUR TOOTHBRUSH PROPERLY: Do not store your toothbrush with someone else’s toothbrush, i.e. do not put it in the same glass. If you do, make sure that the brush heads do not touch each other. Also, do not keep your toothbrush in an airtight closed cabinet, because humid environments allow bacteria and viruses to multiply. In addition, keep your brush as far away from the toilet bowl as possible. This is a rule you should follow routinely. Germs are spread around every time you flush the toilet. Keep the toilet seat closed when flushing. To make sure your brush is clean enough, you can soak it in boiling water for 5 minutes. We can also spray 1% hydrogen peroxide, which you use as a mouthwash, on the brush in spray form. You can prepare the natural toothbrush disinfectant that you can easily prepare at home as follows. -2 tablespoons grape or apple cider vinegar -2 teaspoons baking soda. Put the vinegar in a glass and then put the toothbrush into the mixture where you add the baking soda and mix. When the vinegar and baking soda react with each other, the foams that come out clean between the bristles of the toothbrush. You can then rinse your brush and remove it. This provides you with disinfection in a natural way. During this period, it is not recommended to go to the dentist for virus spread, except in emergencies. This means that you should definitely go to the dentist for emergencies. TDB has determined the emergencies as follows. Severe toothache Swelling in the eyes, neck, gums Bleeding that does not stop in the mouth Oral and dental problems of individuals at risk of infection and trauma (ie situations such as impact fracture) Patients in this situation should have dental treatment. As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, every epidemic will end one day.
