Daily habit tames COVID

Your daily oral health habits protect more than just your gums. The Journal of Periodontology reports that in a study of more than 550 COVID-19 patients, those with periodontitis were 3.5 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care, 4.5 times more likely to need a ventilator and almost 9 times more likely to perish compared to those without gum disease. Like COVID-19, gum disease causes sustained inflammation or swelling throughout the body. Study author Mariano Sanz, Ph.D., notes that oral bacteria in patients with periodontitis can infect the lungs, making the coronavirus infection more severe, and recommends oral care to reduce the risk for severe COVID outcomes.