Recovering Oral Health After Covid

Being ill with Covid is no fun and it can also impact your oral health….

Many of us have been very cautious and have done all that we can to avoid getting Covid over the last year or so. Unfortunately, the new Omicron variant means that even this may not be enough to stop some of us catching it due to its ease of transmission. Although it does seem that the overall effect of new variant is milder than previous ones, primarily due to the level of immunity now built up, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take it seriously, or that we should ignore how poorly it makes many people feel when they get it. Whilst many people experience symptoms similar to a bad cold, others still fare much worse unfortunately.

Being ill with anything can also have an impact on your teeth and gums. If the disease does not actually attack our oral health, the way that we feel when we are ill certainly can do. Naturally, recovery from your illness is the most important thing, but there are also a few things to be borne in mind during this period and afterwards, to help you also keep your teeth and gums healthy during this time. The following suggestions from Mike Allen’s Dental Practice team will hopefully help.

Please isolate

Before we actually discuss how to keep your teeth healthy at this time, we would like to reiterate that under no circumstances should you attend our Burton dental practice if you have tested positive for Covid or have any symptoms. Please read the official guidelines on what to do if you suspect that you might have Covid and for information on testing.

Feeling ‘rough’

Whilst some people have few effects when they are ill with the virus, many people have taken to bed, feel exhausted and also have a wide range of coughs, colds, headaches and sore throats. All of these can mean that we neglect our oral health for a period of time. The most common problem is that we may well forgo our regular teeth cleaning regime. Although this is understandable, there are consequences, and the risk of gum disease, tooth decay and even root canal infections are increased. We appreciate that making the effort to clean your teeth might feel like the hardest thing to do at this time, but it really is worth the effort in the long run. Whilst you should also floss your teeth as well, please do, at least, brush them in the morning and last thing at night.

Symptom relief problems

When we are ill, even if we know that all we can do to recover is be patient and keep comfortable, many of us still turn to a variety of treatments. This is partially in the hope of speeding up recovery, but also to reduce the impact of the symptoms.

These often come in the form of syrups and pastilles, especially where a cough or sore throat is concerned. Although there are some questions as to whether these actually help or not, even the placebo effect might make us feel a little better. One problem with most of these though is that they are both high in sugar and also often quite sticky. This means that as we take a syrup, or worse still, suck a pastille for a period of time, often several times a day, the sugars become stuck to our teeth and around the gum line. Combine this with a possible reduction in the effectiveness of our teeth cleaning and it isn’t hard to see why problems might arise.

We understand that people might wish to take these for obvious reasons. Do try though, to also drink plenty of water as this will help to wash some of the sugars away and will also help to keep you hydrated, possibly helping recovery a little too. Perhaps the most important thing to note though is that you should never suck one of these pastilles or drink a syrup after you have cleaned your teeth at night. This would mean that sugars will stick to your teeth for a long period of time.  If you do wake in the night, coughing, and decide to take syrup or throat sweet, please make sure you brush your teeth well in the morning.

Oral health recovery following illness

Depending on how ill you were when you had Covid, there is every likelihood that your oral health will have suffered to some degree. This doesn’t mean that all is lost though and there are a number of things that you can do to help them recover.

The first thing is to restore any cleaning and flossing that you may have missed during your illness. Pay particular attention to brushing your teeth effectively, for two minutes both morning and night, and also cleaning around the gum line and not just the crowns of your teeth. If you previously flossed, add this back into your routine and if you didn’t before, now would be a great time to start.

Scale and polish

One great way that you can give your teeth and gums a real boost after an illness is to have your teeth professionally cleaned by our Burton hygiene therapist. This will help to remove any built up tartar from your teeth and around the gum line. All patients should have this done every six months for optimum oral health, but if you have an appointment a few months away and have just recovered from Covid, you might wish to bring this forward to help the health of your mouth following your illness.

Please remember too, that if you experience any problems, such as a toothache, after you have recovered, you should call us for an appointment and not wait until your next regular check up date. Delaying problems will almost certainly make them worse! You can call Mike Allen’s Dental Practice for an appointment with the dentist or dental hygienist by calling our Burton clinic on 01283 845345.