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Kelly Ripa’s diligent dental hygiene came back to bite her.
The longtime talk show host revealed her “good-bad habit” of brushing her teeth too much caused severe gum recession, eventually forcing her to undergo surgery that temporarily left the famously chatty TV personality unable to speak.
“I’m an over-brusher,” Ripa revealed during an episode of her podcast, “Let’s Talk Off Camera,” that was recorded before her surgery.
KELLY RIPA’S PAINFUL SURGERY LEAVES HER UNABLE TO SPEAK
“I brush my teeth too much,” she explained to her guest, “Survival of the Thickest” creator Michelle Buteau. “It’s a good-bad habit. But I’ve caused gum recession down here specifically, and so they have gotta re-gum my gums.”
Buteau complimented Ripa for prioritizing her health, but the talk show host quickly admitted the procedure was long overdue.
“Before you praise me, I was supposed to do it five years ago,” Ripa said. “But now, just so you know, the doctor was like, ‘Now, you don’t have the luxury of time.’”
Ripa’s surgery led her to miss a handful of live tapings of the morning talk show she hosts with husband Mark Consuelos.
At the time, Consuelos revealed Ripa’s lengthy recovery process included not talking while chatting with musician Nick Jonas on “Live with Kelly and Mark.”
“Wow. That’s got to be the hardest thing she’s ever done,” Jonas joked.
Describing Ripa as “such a great conversationalist,” Consuelos hinted he might have been having trouble getting the talk show host to follow doctor’s orders.
“I’m trying to keep her to follow the rules, follow the directions,” he said.
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As Ripa recovered at home, Consuelos said the toughest part wasn’t the pain – it was convincing the famously curious TV host to stop checking on her healing gums and let the procedure do its work.
“Last night she was like, ‘Can you look?’ I’m like, ‘I’m not pulling your lip down,’” Consuelos said. Ripa instead got into position so Consuelos could check without touching her lip. “So I’m down there like, ‘It looks great!’”
The longtime actor said the surgery was especially alarming because Ripa rarely complains about pain, which made the recovery stand out from any previous trip to the dentist.
“Yeah, it’s painful,” he told Jonas. “But she famously doesn’t feel pain. When she goes into the dentist, she doesn’t use the novocaine. But this one hurts, so I know it’s bad.”
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