Oral manifestations in patients with COVID-19: A systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: This secondary study focuses on the question: What are the oral manifestations described in patients with COVID-19? Objective: The aim of this review is to characterize oral manifestations reported in research on patients with COVID-19. Methods: A systematic review was conducted focusing on COVID-19 oral manifestations. Research articles involving COVID-19 patients describing at least one oral manifestation were included. The search strategy was executed in databases such as Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Detailed information on oral manifestations during the disease was extracted. The review used the STROBE tool to assess the risk of bias (RoB) and performed a descriptive data analysis. Results: After analyzing 207 articles and eliminating duplicates, 10 studies were selected, revealing data from 2878 patients. The most common oral manifestations were changes in oral mucosa (21.1%), xerostomia (19.4%), and loss of taste (12.9%). Others, such as ulcers or blisters (5.0%), had lower incidence (<5%). Less frequent manifestations included glossitis (0.9%), enanthema (0.1%), and difficulty chewing (0.2%), all less than 2% of the total studied patients. Conclusions: Findings revealed that changes in oral mucosa, xerostomia, and loss of taste were the most frequent manifestations. Ulcers, dental pain, and less common symptoms like glossitis or enanthema occurred in a minority of cases. These results underscore the importance of recognizing a broad range of oral manifestations in COVID-19 patients to enhance early detection and clinical management of the disease.

Keywords

• covid-19/complications
• oral manifestations/epidemiology
• systematic review as topic
• disease progression
• xerostomia/etiology
• loss of taste/etiology