Periodontal Sickness a Danger Factor For Serious Covid-19 Ailment

Abstract

Periodontal Disease (PD) comprises a group of diseases involving inflammatory aspects of the host and dysbiotic events that affect periodontal tissues and could have systemic implications. Diverse factors and comorbidities have been closely associated with PD such as diabetes, obesity, aging, hypertension, and so on; although, underlying mechanisms or causal associations have not been established completely. Interestingly, these same factors have been widely associated with progression or severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an illness caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Since inflammatory and dysbiotic factors as well as comorbidities affect systemic health, it is possible that periodontal status indicates the risk of complication of COVID-19. However, assessment of oral health history including periodontal status in COVID-19 patients has not been reported. Periodontal diseases are a group of chronic inflammatory diseases, including gingivitis and periodontitis. These diseases are driven by several microbial agents that cause inflammation and destruction of tooth-supporting tissues. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), PD affects 10% of the global population. Poor oral hygiene, tobacco smoking, diabetes, medication, age, hereditary, and obesity have been related to increasing the risk of PD. Similarly, other studies suggest the association between PD and other diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, liver diseases, among others. COVID-19 is a disease caused by novel coronavirus named SARSCoV-2 that triggers damage to the lungs and other organs. Most COVID-19 patients present mild symptoms; however, a few could develop severe illness having pneumonia, pulmonary edema, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ dysfunction syndromes, or even die.