A Systematic Analysis of the Relationship between Covid-19 and Oral Health
CHEN, Stefanie
DOI: http://doi.org/10.34614/2022IYRC06
Category: Social Science
Abstract – Despite the large-scale changes Covid-19 has brought to society, its relationship with oral health has been less explored. This systematic review explores the three keyways Covid-19 presents its correlation with oral health: the effects of Covid-19 on oral health, the effects of oral health quality on Covid-19 severity, and the effect Covid-19 has had on the oral healthcare scene and personal oral care behaviors. The sources used in this paper were identified using systematic analysis to review a variety of experimental texts and reports from multiple search engines. Information relevancy was decided after a close examination of the documents and then compiled as potential resources for the respective themes. The effects of Covid-19 on oral health show that Covid-19 infection often leads to several oral manifestations such as oral lesions and xerostomia. Evidence is still moderately unclear as to whether oral manifestations are directly caused by Covid-19 viruses, however, whether through systematic diseases or immunosuppression, Covid-19 does play a role in the development of oral complications. The effects of oral health quality on Covid-19 severity show an inverse relationship where poor oral health results in increasing Covid-19 symptom severity. Finally, Covid-19 has had drastic effects on both community and personal oral healthcare. Due to the increased risk of Covid-19 transmission in the dental environment, many additional safety procedures have been introduced which may contribute to the future welfare of oral healthcare practice. In contrast, pandemic risk has caused declines in personal oral care with the increased use of alcohol and tobacco.