The coronavirus disease, otherwise known as COVID-19, has reported quite a few bizarre symptoms, including loss of sense of smell and taste. Now, survivors who had recovered from the viral infection months ago have started to reported dental issues, including permanent teeth loss.
COVID-19 survivors reported losing a tooth months after they recovered from viral infection.
COVID-19 Causes Teeth Loss?
In a report by The New York Times, a woman by the name of Farah Khemili, 43, has reportedly lost her teeth one day after confirming that one tooth was loose after popping in a chewing mint gum.
The next day, the tooth fell on her hand without blood nor pain.
According to Khemili, she had never lost a tooth in her adult years before, however, after going to the dentist on the day she lost a tooth, the dentist said that she is suffering from significant bone loss due to smoking.
Nevertheless, the New York-based woman was diligent in her dental care even before the coronavirus disease hit her, and that the dentist confirmed her gums were not infected.
Because of the incident, her partner turned to an online support group on Facebook known as Survivor Corp and found some members of the group reporting similar incidents as Khemili.
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More Long Haulers Experience Dental Issues
Among them was the 12-year-old son of Diana Berrent, the founder of the group, who also lost a tooth months after recovering from a mild case of COVID-19, and unlike Khemili, the young boy had a healthy gum and teeth and no underlying dental issues.
Meanwhile, a few others have shared their experiences, such as one who lost hers while eating ice cream.
"It's extremely rare that teeth will literally fall out of their sockets," said Dr. David Okano, a periodontist from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
However, Dr. Okano did say that COVID-19 may worsen any dental issues a person who suffered from the viral infection.
Some experts have also shared their sentiments, saying that dentists need to be more open about the possible effects and complications of the novel coronavirus are, especially since more than 47% of adults aged 30 and up have some sort of periodontal disease.
Unusual Symptoms of Survivors
"We are now beginning to examine some of the bewildering and sometimes disabling symptoms that patients are suffering months after they've recovered from Covid, oncluding these accounts of dental issues and teeth loss," said Dr. William W. Li, the president and medical director of the Angiogenesis Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization that studies the health and diseases associated with the blood vessels.
Dr. Li also said that it is unusual for the teeth to fall out without any blood, so something might have affected the blood vessels in the gums.
As of now, there is not enough evidence that COVID-19 has something to do with these dental issues happening to "long haulers," but as experts are still trying to study the disease, we can never truly know until in-depth research is done.
As for Khemili, she wanted her story to serve as a cautionary tale and hope that people are taking the right precautions to avoid the novel coronavirus disease.
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Written by: Nhx Tingson
