The Truth About Whether Toothbrushing Can Protect Against Covid
A dental expert has suggested brushing your teeth more often could be used as a preventative measure against Covid-19, in a similar vein to hand-washing.
Professor Martin Addy, a dentistry professor at the University of Bristol, said toothpaste contains the same detergents as those found in soap and hand wash gels, which could help prevent the virus behind Covid-19 from making itself too comfortable in your mouth.
“The antimicrobial action of toothpaste in the mouth persists for three to five hours and, thereby, would reduce the viral load in saliva or infection by viruses entering the mouth,” he reportedly told The Telegraph.
Prof Addy suggested people should brush their teeth before going out. “For the vast majority, the timing of tooth brushing should be focused when they are about to go out of their homes for exercise or shopping,” he said. “Ideally, tooth brushing frequency should be increased.”
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Prof Addy has been keen to spread the word on toothbrushing against coronavirus for some time now. In April, he wrote a letter, published in the British Dental Journal, asking why the profession has not been promoting oral hygiene, through toothbrushing, in the preventive approach to Covid-19.
“The majority, if not all toothpastes, contain detergents, which confer significant antimicrobial properties to the product, indeed the same detergents are present in many hand washing formulations, recommended against coronavirus,” he wrote in his letter.
“Although, we may assume such oral hygiene practices are already the norm, this is certainly not the case, particularly for those individuals who coincidentally are most at risk of contracting Covid-19.”
While brushing your teeth often is obviously not a bad thing – and is great for overall health – Professor Paul Hunter, of the Norwich School...
