COVID-19 and Oral Health: An Insight

Abstract

COVID-19 has become an unprecedent health challenge globally. Research efforts are going at war foot to unravel the unpredictable nature and behavior of SARS CoV-2 virus. The scientific community has succeeded to decipher the origin, pathogenesis, manifestations, and complications of COVID-19. The link between the oral cavity and COVID-19 has intrigued many as several studies have linked poor oral hygiene status to respiratory viral infections. A possible association between the inflammatory conditions of the oral cavity, increased viral load, superadded bacterial infections and increased complications in COVID-19 patients has been speculated. Many hypotheses have been proposed to logically explain the transmission of the virus from the oral cavity to the lungs via conducting airways or blood. And also, it is observed that improving the oral hygiene by standardized measures reduces the viral load in the oral cavity of COVID-19 patients, thus, improving overall health. This review is an attempt to highlight and discuss the available literature regarding oral microbiome and COVID-19. It is advocated that simple oral hygiene practices could help to lower the risk of transmission of the SARS CoV-2 virus from the mouth to the lungs, thus reducing the severity of symptoms and complications.

Keywords

• Complications, Oral health, Oral microbiome, Pandemic, Transmission.