Available for Interviews: Dr. Tammy Penhollow
Dr. Tammy Penhollow is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, specializing in anesthesiology, pain management, and regenerative medicine. Having over 20 years of experience has helped her to cultivate a passion for regenerative medicine and holistic healing. Dr. Penhollow practices at Precision Regenerative Medicine in the greater Phoenix area.
Dr. Tammy Penhollow is available to talk about this. Below are details of what she can say:
Oral health is one of the first lines of defense in many major illnesses. It may seem so simple, but a look at oral health is actually a predictor of overall health. The mouth is the entry point for the respiratory and digestive tracts.
As such, the first line of defense against COVID-19 infection may be . . . your mouth.
1) Normally, the body’s natural defenses along with good oral care (including daily brushing and flossing) keep bacteria under control. Without good oral hygiene, tooth decay, gum disease, and oral infections can occur.
2) Many common medications such as opioid painkillers, decongestants, allergy pills, and diuretics reduce production of saliva. Saliva is important in neutralizing acids produced by oral bacteria, and in washing away food, both of which protect you from microbes that lead to disease.
3) Oral bacteria and the inflammation associated with severe gum disease may play a role in certain diseases such as diabetes, HIV, cardiovascular disease—and these can reduce the ability to fight infection.
4) In the case of coronavirus, the throat and salivary glands in the mouth are important sites of virus replication and transmission in early COVID-19. The virus is an enveloped virus—outer membrane that derives from the host cell from which it buds. Mouthwash components including ethanol, chlorhexidine, cetylpyridinium chloride, hydrogen peroxide, and povidone-iodine disrupt that viral envelope.
5) This knowledge can be extrapolated to OTHER coronavirus strains because the lipid envelope does not vary when viruses mutate.
While this is not a cure, and we recommend clinical trials to test the effectiveness of this approach in prevention of coronavirus illness, simple gargling (not swallowing) mouthwash with one of these ingredients may be yet another weapon that we can employ.
*Article About Recent study from MDLinx (8/11/20):
Mouthwashes Could Reduce the Risk of Coronavirus Transmission, Study Shows
*Article About one study from Newswise (5/12/20):
Mouthwash Could Be a Promising Weapon in
the Fight Against Coronavirus Transmission
Interviews: Dr. Tammy Penhollow
Dr. Tammy Penhollow practices at Precision Regenerative Medicine in Scottsdale, Arizona, where develops individualized treatment plans for musculoskeletal and spine interventions with PRP and bone marrow aspirate using image guidance, as well as micro-needling with PRP for skin, hair and anti-aging conditions. She also stays active in teaching as an Instructor in Anesthesiology for the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and as a Supplemental Consultant for the Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.
A former active duty US Naval Officer, Dr. Penhollow has lived, practiced, and has been deployed around the US and overseas. She embodies the lifestyle she recommends to her patients and is an active hiker, gardener and yogi as well as a French trained home chef and an aspiring sommelier.
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