Dental hygiene declined during coronapanic

by philg

Happy Dental Hygiene Month. I hope that every reader has bought him/her/zir/theirself a new toothbrush head to celebrate.

This reminds me to relate a story in the Department of Philip is Always Wrong. I conjectured that Americans’ dental health would have improved during the lockdown. With offices and schools closed for 1.5 years in the Science-following cities and states, people were never more than a few steps from a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss. It was, for at least part of the time, actually illegal for anyone to eat in a restaurant. With nearly every meal being consumed at home, there was thus no obstacle to brushing immediately after every meal.

I checked in with a dentist friend who confirmed the general principle that Philip is Always Wrong. “Hygiene was far worse during lockdown,” she responded, “due to constant snacking. Parents were too lazy to monitor their kids’ brushing. People just gave up and let everything go.” (Because of this, her practice has never been more profitable, nearly all funded by tax dollars (Medicaid for pediatric dentistry).)

Illustrating the best of modern German culture, a basket of cavities and/or revenue, depending on your perspective, from Amana, Iowa:

8 thoughts on “Dental hygiene declined during coronapanic”

  1. Lion hygene improved dramatically from having enough time to floss instead of heating a train for 3 hours/day.

  2. Today is also National Taco Day, so I hope everyone who indulges in a big Mexican food fiesta remembers to brush and floss afterward.

    Here are some taco restaurant recommendations in FL. For relevancy, I’m pretty sure we’ve seen at least one Rocco’s Tacos location in one of your previous post, featuring a C8 Corvette parked out front, IIRC with an Acura NSX. Just for fun, I rang their location in Naples and they are open today. I asked the young lady who answered the phone: “How did you make it through the hurricane? You all OK?”

    She said in an upbeat voice: “Good! It wasn’t bad. We’re fine! We’re open!”

    https://www.floridarentals.com/blog/best-tacos-in-florida/

    This despite this Yahoo! News article – which was published yesterday but highlights drone footage taken on September 29:

    “Drone Footage Shows Hurricane Ian Destruction Across Naples, Florida”

    https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/drone-footage-shows-hurricane-ian-155207108.html

    Here is the Rocco’s Tacos Naples location menu. I’ll a platter of Chorizo Tacos de Casa ($15) with a side of Yellow Rice ($4.25) please.

    https://www.roccostacos.com/naples/

    • BTW I want the Tacos de Casa platter with ensalata mixta, hence the extra side of yellow rice. Maybe they should take some “drone footage” of the restaurant and surrounding area and send it over to the fishwrap mongers at Yahoo! News. Anyway, for $20 that strikes me as a good, pretty-healthy meal.

      Maybe they should do a special: “Tacos de Huracán Para el Yahoos!

      Circling back around to the original post: I’ve always thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea if restaurants had little “dental health packs” available at or near cost, just to reinforce the idea of good dental hygiene. At least McDonald’s should offer that in kid’s Happy Meals and help the youngsters get started on the right foot.

  4. I recently bought a bag of Albanese Candies sour gummies. The package states Starts Sour Stays Sour. It is true, these are sour from start to finish. Road trip combo: Mix Albanese Ultimate and Sour. Just buy the big size bags. Excellent candy. A tour of the Albanese Candy factory is on my visit list.

    My top favorite candy was Fire Twizzlers. They were super hot cinnamon flavor. Spicy hot like Blenheim Ginger Ale. Unfortunately Fire Twizzlers were discontinued.

    Finally had a post C19 dentist visit last month. No cavities or issues. I recommend using a Stannous Fluoride toothpaste a few times a week.

    With no C19 Restricted Period cavities or weight gain, I’m an outlier in the Philip is Always Wrong sample set. Feels good man.

    • @Rick: +1 to Twizzlers and I agree: they are the “Thinking Man’s Candy.” You can nibble away at them while working or immersed in deep thoughts, they help stop cravings (just remember to brush and floss!), you can self-limit your sugar intake easily, and they’re also great as smoking cessation adjuvants. Hershey made this connection explicit with ads that are still airing (at least on YouTube) beginning in 2021:

      https://youtu.be/TyvohjuGy2w

    • @Rick: Sorry for the extra post, but it is also much better to nibble on Twizzlers than the terrible habit some people have of biting and chewing ball point pens, pen caps, pencils, erasers, etc., etc. The accepted numbers vary according to whom you believe, but there are at least scores of people who have choked to death on ball point pens. Twizzlers are much more flexible, tasty, and they will *dissolve*. I’m not saying you can’t choke to death on a Twizzler, but it’s probably more difficult. Now someone will post a Jackass Challenge on TikTok. Let’s hope not.

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