Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Kelly Ripa’s “good-bad habit” led to her needing gum graft surgery.
The 55-year-old star missed several tapings of Live with Kelly and Mark after having the operation last month and she’s opened up on why she needed to undergo the “painful” procedure, which treats receding or thinning gums by transferring healthy gum tissue to cover exposed roots on the teeth.
In the latest episode of her Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast, which was recorded before she had the operation, Kelly’s guest, Survival of the Thickest creator and star Michelle Buteau said the surgery “sounds painful”.
The host replied: “It is”.
She also revealed she was “not allowed to talk for 10 days” after the operation, before explaining why the gum graft was needed.
She said: “I’m an over-brusher.
“I brush my teeth too much. It’s a good-bad habit. But I’ve caused gum recession down here specifically, and so they have gotta re-gum my gums.”
And when Michelle praised Kelly for taking measures to look after her oral health, the presenter admitted she had put off the procedure for a long time.
She said: “Before you praise me, I was supposed to do it five years ago.
“But now, just so you know, the doctor was like, ‘Now, you don’t have the luxury of time.’ ”
Kelly also admitted she was concerned about not being able to talk for so long.
She said: “We’re already managing my stress level for not being able to talk for ten days.”
When Kelly missed Live with Kelly and Mark last month, her husband and co-host Mark Consuelos told how she was under strict orders about her recovery.
Speaking to guest co-host Kevin Jonas, Mark shared: “Kelly sends her love.
“There’s a list of things you are not allowed to do. [No] talking, she has to eat soft food, can’t suck out of a straw. You can’t examine it, which means pulling down the lip.
“Last night, she was like, ‘Can you look?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m not pulling your lip down.’
“Her dentist said five years ago, ‘You could do it in about five years.’ And she said, ‘I didn’t know I would still be on the air in five years’. But the one thing about it — she is doing well, doing great — she is not allowed to talk.”
The TV star explained that while Kelly is normally resistant to pain, she has been feeling particularly sore after her surgery.
He said: “It’s painful. But she famously does not feel pain. When she goes into the dentist, she doesn’t use the novocain. But this one hurts, so I know it’s bad.”
