ABSTRACT
Several risk factors have been associated with severe coronavirus disease and include factors such as advanced age and sex (male) and comorbidities such as obesity and the presence of underlying diseases (eg, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes). These predisposing conditions share several standard features that could explain why they are associated with worse disease outcomes. Persistent and uncontrolled inflammation is a key manifestation of several diseases, such as periodontitis, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and coronavirus disease infection. The oral cavity is a reservoir for respiratory pathogens, especially among patients with poor oral hygiene and periodontitis, and dysregulated inflammatory and immune response. In fact, periodontal pockets in the elderly have been associated with increased risk of mortality from pneumonia, and periodontitis patients are more likely to develop hospital -acquired, pneumonia than healthy ones are.Conclusions;Periodontitis shares several common features with coronavirus disease including similarities in comorbidities and effects on systemic inflammation. However, further research would be needed to confirm these hypotheses.
ABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2 was first discovered in December 2019 as the etiologic agent of a serious respiratory illness later called COVID-19 or coronavirus disease 2019. The first COVID-19 case was reported in Wuhan, China and since then, has reached a pandemic level, spreading all over the world and multiplying faster than any other respiratory disease known until now in modern times, with more than 85 million confirmed cases and almost 2 million deaths, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization (WHO). Periodontal disease is one of the most common diseases of the oral cavity that has systemic implications in the overall health homeostasis. It is an inflammatory disease that involves a series of dysbiotic events caused by periodontopathogenic microflora that causes destruction of the periodontal tissues locally, and an exacerbated proinflammatory status systemically. Diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome and obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and autoimmune diseases have been identified as risk factors for both periodontitis and severe Covid-19 infections. These diseases have similar inflammatory pathways that are involved in the progression of these conditions, thus, it is fair to assume a pathological common link.