Document Type: Review Article

Authors
Deepti Sharma; George Koshy; Shruti Gupta; Vishal Kumar Sharma; Gauri Malik; Anita Hooda
Associate Professor, Professor and Head, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology; Professor Department of Endodontics and Conservative Dentistry, Christian Dental College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab; Associate Professor, Senior Professor and Head, Department of Oral Anatomy, Post Graduate Institute of Dental Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana; Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Desh Bhagat Dental College, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab, India.

DOI: 10.37821/ruhsjhs.7.4.2022.423 [Downloaded: 0 times], [Page visited: 0 times]

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.