The effect of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on the health of oral tissue: A survey-based study

The aim of this survey study was to determine the possible effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on oral tissues and to investigate the relationship between changes in oral tissues and COVID-19. In this study, 200 volunteers who had COVID-19 in their anamnesis were included. After the routine clinical examination in the Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey, the volunteers were asked to fill out a 33-item questionnaire created on "Google Forms" to determine the changes occurred in the oral tissues during and after COVID-19. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics in SPSS software and the statistical significance level was determined using the chi-square test and McNemar’s test. The study population consisted of 75 men and 125 women. While suffering from COVID-19, 53.0, 21.0, 16.0, and 17.5% of the subjects reported that they had taste loss, halitosis, pain in the chewing muscles, and pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), respectively. Pain and wound in the oropharynx were the variables that more affected the possibility of halitosis (P < 0.001, Odds ratio = 4.749). Xerostomia was observed in 38.0% of the patients during the disease. In 27.6% of the patients who had xerostomia during the disease, the complaint associated with this complication continued after recovery (P < 0.001). Xerostomia and loss of taste were the most common symptoms in the oral area during COVID-19. Further studies including clinical studies are needed to determine the relationship between changes in oral tissues and COVID-19.