14 September 2021

Story and image credit: Western Advocate

A healthy mouth can equal a healthy body, according to local dentist Dr Emma Travis, who is urging people to take care of their pearly whites during lockdown.

While people are working from home or not working at all, daily routines might be slipping, including diet.

"A lot of people are snacking more. They've not really got formal meals because they're not on a schedule at work or school or whatever it might be," Dr Travis said.

"Making slightly healthier choices is good and people get really hooked on a lot of sugar in their tea and coffee and not drinking enough water and drinking soft drink.

"Healthy mouth can equal healthy body, so trying to get people to draw those connections has a huge impact down the track."

Dr Travis stressed there are significant consequences to bad dental health, not just a filling or false teeth.

Often people with bad dental hygiene have other health problems such as chronic inflammation, chronic diseases, diabetes and heart disease.

Dental on Keppel is open and, although the business is trying to minimise the number of patients due to lockdown, it will still see anyone with a serious problem straight away.

"I'd rather they get in touch with us and discuss if they think there might be an issue," Dr Travis said.

"We'd rather get onto it straight away than have them decide themselves that it's not essential and then it turns into a bigger problem later on."

For those with no immediate problems, Dr Travis advises getting into a meal routine and taking extra notice of sugar content.

Make brushing twice a day part of your routine, drink a lot of water and make conscious decisions about what goes into your mouth, she said.

"The other slippery slope is the sugar content of alcoholic drinks," Dr Travis said.

"We don't have to drive anywhere, maybe we're finishing [work] when we like, so we might be having a few more beverages."

Dental conditions are easily treatable if caught early so Dr Travis encourages people to be aware of their teeth and contact their dentist if an issue arises.