The expert: “The mouth is the gateway to the virus, oral prevention is necessary ‘

“The pandemic has taught us that the oral cavity is the gateway to Covid-19, for this reason prevention is a fundamental weapon to fight the spread of viruses and other diseases. The mouth is the reservoir and the seat. from which droplets originate and derive, the droplets that cause infections, therefore it has a crucial role for Covid-19. For these reasons it is necessary to reduce the number of viruses in the mouth and their potential. How? Through regular and daily oral hygiene , using a mouthwash. Together with all the other measures already taken, it increases the chances of not getting infected “. This was stated by Luca Levrini, director of the School of Specialization in Orthodontics and vicar president of the Degree Course in Dental Hygiene at the University of Insubria, according to which the concrete oral prevention tools that we have available today are “those that we normally use it for our hygiene procedures for the prevention of tooth decay and periodontal disease “. (VIDEO) To date “some scientific evidence emerged from new in vitro tests – says the expert – confirm that some active ingredients contained in mouthwashes based on cetylpyridinium chloride (Cpc) and essential oils are effective in depotentiating the Sars-CoV virus. 2, albeit temporarily: the mouthwash influences and destroys the membrane that covers the virus, so the virus is weakened for a period of time that can last up to 6 hours. The weakening action is maximum at the beginning, but then decreases until the virus regains its natural and negative potential. It is a mouthwash that could play an important role as a preventive measure to reduce the viral transmission of Covid-19, in addition, and not as a substitute, to vaccines, to washing hands , keep the interpersonal distance and use the gold nasal masks “. The preliminary tests referred to by Levrini were conducted, on behalf of the Unilever Research Center, at an independent laboratory accredited on an international scale, and attracted the interest of the National Association of Italian Dentists (Andi), the largest association among Italian dentists. Regarding the use of mouthwash, “it is important – the vicar president of the Degree Course in Dental Hygiene at the University of Insubria points out – that it becomes a daily practice, as for oral hygiene, to be repeated 3 times a day. Rinsing the mouth for at least 60 seconds and, if possible, also gargling to go deeper than the simple area of ​​the oral cavity “. But if before the pandemic, dentists thought almost exclusively of the bacteria responsible for caries and gingivitis, after the health emergency more attention is paid to the mouth and its connection with general health. “To date – confirms Levrini – there is a new and more important preventive vision, that is to look also at the control of the viruses present in the oral cavity. This consideration is not limited only and elusively to the current pandemic problem, but can also be hypothesized in the ‘ area of ​​influences, other future diseases or new pandemics, certainly amplifying the medical value of the entire dental area and giving the active ingredients we already use for mouthwashes an extraordinary preventive value “. Here, “underlining the value of home oral hygiene, which in any case must be done 3 times a day – the expert reiterates – I believe that it can have an important preventive and health policy value both with respect to the onset of caries and paradental disease and for new viral pathologies in the future “.