Dentists seeing ‘mask mouth’ and stress-related issues during COVID-19 pandemic…

Dr. Elena Hernandez-Kucey says it’s a something dentists across North America have been talking about: a noticeable increase in stress-related dental issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are seeing more joint problems, people arriving (in clinics) saying: ‘I’m not sleeping well, I’m waking up, my face hurts,’” Hernandez-Kucey told Global News.

The Edmonton dentist explains tension and anxiety, whether a patient is aware of it or not, can cause teeth grinding and clenching.

“That might cause a fracture or complication to the nerve health of the tooth,” said Hernandez-Kucey.

 

Staff of the University of Alberta dental clinic have been seeing similar problems over the past year.

They’re also noticing “mask mouth.”

“Some people when they wear masks, they tend to breathe through their mouth. So this can cause dryness in the mouth,” Dr. Liran Levin told Global News.

The head of the U of A’s periodontology division explains dryness can enhance gum diseases or encourage inflammation.He also recommends drinking more water and trying to breathe through your nose while you’re wearing a mask.

Hernandez-Kucey says mask-wearing has some benefits.

If you smell your own bad breath — or halitosis — that can be a sign of potential infection, something you might not have noticed otherwise until it’s more advanced.

Patients are also taking advantage of this time when everyone’s faces are covered to hide major dental work.

“Perhaps someone might be a little bit nervous about having braces for example… or losing a front tooth… or losing all their teeth and perhaps going to a denture,” said Hernandez-Kucey.

Both dental professionals say patients who are nervous to leave the house have been putting off appointments.

“Maybe delaying what would have been an easy minor adjustment or small filling, small restoration, to now (becoming) something a lot more significant,” said Hernandez-Kucey.

Now is not to time to neglect oral health.

A recently published study from Qatar found patients with periodontitis, the most severe form of gum disease, were at least three times more likely to experience COVID-19 complications, including the need for assisted ventilation, ICU admission and death.

Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/7719939/dentists-mask-mouth-teeth-dental-stress-jaw-covid-19/

By Su-Ling Goh

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California groups track face masks, gloves bound for ocean…

 

Disposable masks, gloves and other types of personal protective equipment are safeguarding untold lives during the coronavirus pandemic. They’re also creating a worldwide pollution problem, littering streets and sending an influx of harmful plastic and other waste into landfills, sewage systems and oceans.

In Northern California, environmental groups are tracking the issue along the coast — and trying to do something about it.

The Pacific Beach Coalition recently noticed a dramatic increase in discarded PPE on beaches in and around the city of Pacifica, south of San Francisco, where it’s been doing monthly cleanups for nearly 25 years.

Volunteers record what they pick up to gauge what might end up in the ocean. Until 2020, the litter was mostly cigarette butts and food wrappers.

“What are we going to do? We got masks. We got gloves. We got all those hand wipes, the sani wipes. They’re everywhere. They’re in my neighbourhood, in my streets. What can we do?” asked Lynn Adams, the coalition’s president.

The group and others are calling attention to the issue, saying what’s recorded is likely only a fraction of the personal protective equipment hitting beaches and oceans.

Larger mammals can ingest PPE, and plastic from the items can disrupt the ocean’s food chains. “They’re all made of plastic,” Adams said.

A report last year by the advocacy group OceansAsia found nearly 1.6 billion masks would flood oceans in 2020 alone, based on global production estimates and other factors. OceansAsia said masks could take as long as 450 years to break down.

The Marine Mammal Center, a conservation group that rescues and rehabilitates mammals, conducts research and provides education, said animals can get trapped in discarded PPE, or mistake it for food.

“Obviously, PPE is critical right now, but we know that with increased amounts of plastic and a lot of this stuff getting out into the ocean, it can be a really big threat to marine mammals and all marine life,” said the centre’s conservation educator, Adam Ratner.

One small thing Ratner suggests is cutting the loops before discarding a mask, which can help prevent animals from getting tangled in them.

Sophia Woehl was among those volunteering in the cleanup at a beach in Pacifica last week.

“We want to keep ourselves safe, but we also want to keep the rest of the environment safe, too, and we’re not doing that right now with just leaving them on the ground,” she said.

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/california-groups-track-face-masks-gloves-bound-for-ocean-1.5359814

By Haven Daley

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Health Canada warns of more fake 3M Masks…

 

Health Canada is warning of counterfeit 3M N95 respirators after recent seizures of counterfeit products in Canada and at the border.

Since February, Ottawa said close to 330,000 counterfeit 3M-branded N95 respirators were seized from Canadian distributors and nearly 365,000 at the border.

The new warning was issued for three versions of the 3M model, the Health Care Particulate Respirator and Surgical Mask 1860 and 1860S as well as the Aura Health Care Particulate Respirator and Surgical Mask 1870 plus.

To report counterfeit masks or other products you can call the 3M toll-free anti-fraud hotline at 1-800-426-8688, use 3M’s online form or report it to Health Canada.

Source: https://www.mystratfordnow.com/81089/health-canada-warns-of-more-fake-3m-masks/

By  Mohamed Fahim

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Thank You, Premier Doug Ford…


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SSE Care is so lucky to be in a position where we can provide support to our community during these trying times.

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Poll shows support for mask mandates across Canada, U.S. and U.K.

 

Despite all the complaining people do about wearing masks due to COVID-19, polling done across three different countries shows most people say they wear a mask on a regular basis.

The survey, conducted by Maru/Blue in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom at the end of February, shows more than 90% compliance on mask-wearing in all three countries and significant support for mask mandates.

In Canada, 97% said they wear a mask on a regular basis or sometimes. That figure was 96% in the U.K. and 94% in the United States. Just 2% of respondents in Canada and the U.K. said they refuse to wear masks, a figure that stood at 3% in the United States while the rest said they didn’t need to wear a mask where they live.

In every country, men were slightly more likely to refuse to wear a mask than women and those aged 18-34 were the most likely age group to say they were not wearing masks. Geographically, Quebec, the American west and England’s northeast were the regions most likely to refuse to wear masks.

As for how much governments should do to enforce mask wearing as a tool to combat the spread of COVID-19, a majority in Britain, 53%, said authorities had not gone far enough in making people wear masks. That contrasts with 40% who felt the same way in the U.S. and 33% in Canada.

In Canada 55% agreed with the statement that authorities had, “found the right balance in making people wear masks.”

Just 12% of Canadians, 16% of Americans, and 7% of Brits thought governments had gone too far in mandating the wearing of masks.

Source: https://torontosun.com/news/national/poll-shows-support-for-mask-mandates-across-canada-u-s-and-u-k

By Brian Lilley

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