Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps no virus-related debate has been more contentious than The Great American Mask Debate. The “to wear or not to wear” battle has raged everywhere from Donald Trump’s White House to the aisles of Walmarts across the country.   

Now, according to a New York dentist, there appears to be a new mask debate for mask-debaters to sink their teeth into. (I couldn’t resist).

Dr. Rob Ramondi, co-founder of One Manhattan Dental, told the New York Post too much mask-wearing can lead to all kinds of nasty things, among them; cavities, decaying teeth, and seriously stinky breath.

“We’re seeing inflammation in people’s gums that have been healthy forever, and cavities in people who have never had them before. About 50% of our patients are being impacted by this, [so] we decided to name it ‘mask mouth’ — after ‘meth mouth.”

Ramondi’s business partner, Dr. Mark Sclafani, explained the stinky situation, along with the potential for more serious health issues that can be caused by excessive mask-wearing.

“Gum disease — or periodontal disease — will eventually lead to strokes and an increased risk of heart attacks. People tend to breathe through their mouth instead of through their nose while wearing a mask. The mouth breathing is causing the dry

On the bright side, Sclafani told the New York Post, their practice is “packing in breath-conscious patients who might otherwise neglect their dental health during the pandemic.”

“Patients are coming into us like, ‘Wow, my breath smells, I need a cleaning.’ [But] when you smell the bad breath, you either already have periodontal disease or you have a lot of bacteria that’s sitting on your tongue because of dry mouth.”

And if all else fails, Sclafani said, “Just breathe through your nose!”

Meanwhile, mask-shaming has been and remains a reality.

In May, my RedState colleague Sister Toldjah wrote a piece in which she said “it’s time for mask-shaming to stop — with exceptions.”

Sister Toldjah was right, of course — but mask-shaming continues.

I took a light-hearted look at mask-shaming, last week, in my RedState piece, “Best Thing You’ll Watch All Day: YouTuber on Why She Wears a Mask: ‘It’s a Simple Yet Effective Way to Display My Righteousness.”

The bottom line:

If you don’t want to end up like this poor guy, who appears to have entered a Walmart, unfortunately sans a mask…

There’s absolutely no way droplets are coming out of that screaming woman’s mask. 😂😂😂#FoxAndFriends #Tcot #Ccot #MorningJoe #COVID19 #TuesdayThoughts #TuesdayMorning #Trump2020 #KAG2020 #WalkAway

pic.twitter.com/lZ9ALsYVWB

— Rad123 (@Tombx7M) August 4, 2020

… then you might at least want to consider doing what this YouTuber does. As she explains in the hilarious video, she wears a mask because “It’s a simple yet effective way to display my righteousness.”

Then again, there’s that stinky breath thing to worry about.

So if you follow the YouTuber’s advice — or wear a mask because you think it’s effective, or are forced to wear one — remember to also follow the dentist’s advice and “just breathe through your nose!”