Is there an association between oral health and severity of COVID-19 complications?

Authors

Nathalie Botros, University of the Pacific
Parvati Iyer, University of the PacificFollow
David M. Ojcius, University of the PacificFollow

ORCiD

David M. Ojcius: 0000-0003-1461-4495

Department

Biomedical Sciences

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Biomedical Journal

ISSN

2319-4170

Volume

43

Issue

4

DOI

10.1016/j.bj.2020.05.016

First Page

325

Last Page

327

Publication Date

8-1-2020

Abstract

Most patients with severe complications from COVID-19 have underlying conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. In parallel, there is growing evidence for a link between periodontitis and non-oral systemic diseases. The oral cavity is also a reservoir for respiratory pathogens, and patients with periodontal disease are more likely to develop hospital-acquired pneumonia than healthy individuals. We therefore hypothesize that improving oral health could decrease the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and reduce the associated morbidity.

Recommended Citation

Botros, N., Iyer, P., & Ojcius, D. M. (2020). Is there an association between oral health and severity of COVID-19 complications?. Biomedical Journal, 43(4), 325–327. DOI: 10.1016/j.bj.2020.05.016
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/dugoni-facarticles/519

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.