The illness tied to the new coronavirus was originally called novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia (NCIP). The World Health Organization renamed it COVID-19, which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. (1)That gives you an idea of how many people are affected with respiratory issues that lead to pneumonia but it actually appears to be only 15% of COVID19 cases have significant issues with only 5% of those severe enough to need a ventilator.
P. gingivalis is found in the oral cavity, where it is implicated in periodontal disease, as well as in the upper gastrointestinal tract, the respiratory tract and the colon. (4) There are simple tests your dental office can perform to discover if you do indeed have the bacterial infection caused by Porphyromonas gingivalis.
Cytokines, which are secreted by specific cells of the immune system, originate from periodontal (gum) tissues may alter respiratory epithelium thereby promoting infection by respiratory pathogens (5)
Clinical studies have shown a direct correlation between poor oral health and the risk of development of respiratory disease associated with the flue virus and possibly other respiratory viruses. Excessive death due to bacterial infections occurring during or shortly after viral infection has been documented since the Spanish Flu Pandemic. (3)
The percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza is 8.2% which is above the epidemic threshold of 7.2%. Deaths due to pneumonia have increased sharply since the end of February, while those due to influenza increased modestly through early March and declined this week. Deaths attributed specifically to COVID-19 will be reported next week. (5)
So why am I reinforcing all this doom and gloom?
Because, you have a way to improve your odds. Good oral hygiene.
This is the time of all times to improve your oral care. Dig out that water pik, hook it up and use it! Use your floss daily. And make sure your power brush is charged.
You do have a power brush, don’t you?
If not, here’s the link for a great one. And I’ll be there to guide you through the learning curve. Just ask.
And #Burst floss. It’s the best. Really. I know I’ve told you about Dr Tung’s floss, but #Burst floss is delivered to your door. How easy is that!?
Check out #Burst here. I am a #Burst #Ambassador so I’ve got a code you can use to save 40% off the brush so it’s only $39.99. And every 3 months you’ll get a brush in the mail for an additional $6+ charge to your card at the time so you don’t have to shop for it either.
I could go on and on but please check it out here for yourself. Then ask if you have more questions.
https://burstoralcare.com?coupon_code=GWVUHS
- https://www.webmd.com/lung/covid-and-pneumonia
- https://www.healio.com/endocrinology/diabetes/news/online/%7B5632bfd5-7a25-4c1d-b532-356f7d71150d%7D/pneumonia-uncontrolled-inflammation-more-common-in-covid-19-with-diabetes
- https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/docserver/fulltext/jgv/92/10/2324_vir032094.pdf?expires=1586526404&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=ED331C75E530F9F515778A6BEA00963E
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyromonas_gingivalis
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2946730/#__ffn_sectitle
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fcovid-data%2Fcovidview.html
