Overreaching: a risk factor for periodontal disease?

Abstract

Objective: to identify the effects of overreaching on the susceptibility to develop periodontal diseases. Material and Methods: search for scientific articles on the Pubmed database. The search strategy used the term “overreaching” with the Boolean operator “and”, and the keywords: effects, immunological, diagnosis. The descriptor “periodontal disease and risk factor” was also used. The studies selected were analyzed and the studies that did not cover the proposed subject were excluded. Results: periodontal diseases involve a multi-factorial etiology. Although the presence of microbiological pathogens is an important factor for the development of the diseases, other factors have also been highly correlated with their prevalence. The dysfunction of the immune function is more pronounced when the exercise is continuous, prolonged and moderately intense, condition that occurs in overreaching. There is a possibility that the combined effects of changes in immunological parameters may compromise the response to some diseases, such as periodontal diseases. The destruction of the periodontal tissues is a final consequence of the immune response from the host, which can vary in overreaching. Conclusion: overreaching may be responsible for alterations in the immune system of the athlete. Diseases that present a common inflammatory profile may suffer additional modulations because of this process, leaving these individuals under a higher risk.

Keywords

• Oral health
• Physical education and training
• Periodontal diseases.