It’s a startling statistic. Particularly if there are only two of you in the room and you’re not sure you remember. After all, one lockdown day just Netflix into another. And who hasn’t worn their pyjama pants for a whole day: even funnier with the misinterpretation.

No doubt that’s been going on as well.

Lockdown. Such a strange term. Lockup seems to imply less choice, but it all seems to amount to the same.

We become lock-ins when we’re locked up in lockdown. It can be a good place to be if you can manage to not act like a teenager whose parents are away. Or consider every day like the first of a holiday in eight years after working ten-hour days, seven days a week.

Lockdown is great when we imagine all the healthy lifestyle changes we can make, now that we have all this time: all the self-discipline of early yoga, healthy foods, resistance training and a broadening of the mind.

Ultimately, it’s all either a vision or a memory in trakky daks on the sofa.

Even when intention is strong and we manage it for a while, somehow it just kinda wears off.

In the same way it used to be funny seeing everyone in masks.

Disruptions to supply and delivery chains, and the crazy toilet-paper-shopping mentality takes the shine off the proposed masterchef menu, and the junk food aisle always has specials…

We’re just stepping outside our usual boundaries for a bit, for a while. Staying up later because we don’t have to get up to go to work. Wearing our most comfy because we’re not going anywhere. Falling asleep on the lounge and dragging ourselves to bed, too tired to brush our teeth, apparently.

After eating all those chips and that ice cream.

We snack more. We graze more. We drink a bit more, or a bit more often. Because we crave and consume sugar and fats when we’re bored. We spend more time in front of the screen – whether it’s 42 inches, 15, 5.6 and mostly all three.

Perfect for mindless snacking.

Bad for the bod; gross for the gob.

Failing to brush your teeth gives the bad bacteria in your mouth hours and hours to feast on debris and release acids. This is what causes tooth decay and gum disease. It can also be enough time for soft plaque to harden into calculus; and you can’t remove that by brushing. You’ll need a professional clean by you dentist.

Only it’s unlikely you’ll make that appointment during lockdown. Statistically they too, have halved in the time of the pandemic.

Many in lockdown have extended appointments with Dr Google: almost 1-in-4 seek dental solutions online, and a number of dentists have spoken out about self diagnosis.

It’s not because they want you to put your mouth where their money is. Dentistry involves detailed knowledge and intense training, no matter what the interwebs may imply. Identifying symptoms does not make you a dentist in the same way that eating a cake won’t make you a baker. Every dental issue shows early symptoms that only a dentist can properly identify.

And only a dentist can stop its progession.

Aside from unfortunate genetics or poor health most, if not all, dental issues arise from improper brushing and flossing. Like driving, we start out diligent and rule-bound and after a while we’ve allowed ourselves some sloppy habits.

Brushing and flossing without appropriate technique can lead to enamel and gum damage, as well as plaque build-up: and not the kind that’s proudly brass-plated.

Spend some lockdown time learning how to brush and floss properly. Only a caveman wouldn’t know there are a million sites (122 million to be exact); and he wouldn’t need to look any of them up given the perfect state of his teeth with his hard-chewing diet, and longer jaw.

Dental Hygiene Affected By Lockdowns: 50% Less Brushing Their Teeth

If fifty percent of us in lockdown aren’t brushing our teeth no wonder Zoom is popular.

Lock it in during lockdown that you’ll brush for at least 2 minutes, at least twice a day. Floss while you’re binge watching.

Maybe get mint flavoured in the vision or a memory of a chocolate mint slice.

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