Association between Severity of COVID-19, Periodontal Health and Disease in Riyadh Subpopulation
Pradeep Koppolu, Esraa Mohamed Genady, Lelian Mohammed Albdeirat, Farah Amer Sebai, Dalal Mohamemd Alrashdi, Amara Swapna Lingam, Fatima Abdulmohsin R. Alsada, Fatimah Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, Rawa Kamal Abdelrahim
Abstract
Background: Periodontitis and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) both exhibit an exaggerated inflammatory response as common traits. Given that periodontal diseases have been linked to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia, it is quite possible that periodontitis and COVID-19 are related. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to ascertain whether the severity of COVID-19 and periodontal disease are related. Methods: A retrospective study was done using the 3 years of patients' medical and dental records in the University Hospital. A telephone interview was employed to estimate the severity of symptoms got through COVID-19 infection. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. The Chi-square test, with statistical significance set at 0.05, was used to determine the relationship between the severity of periodontal disease and the severity of COVID-19. Results: It was seen that there was a strong relationship between the severities of COVID-19 disease and periodontal disease. The mildest gingivitis cases (63%), Stage 1 periodontitis (62.9%), were associated with the COVID-19-negative group, whereas the most severe gingivitis cases (85.7%), Stage 4 periodontitis group (66.66%), were associated with COVID-19-positive group. In comparison to those without periodontitis, patients with periodontitis had a 1.54 times higher risk of COVID-19 complications (P = 0.048). Patients who had comorbidities were 2.49 times to have COVID-19 complications (P = 0.02). Conclusion: The observations presented above lead to the conclusion that COVID-19 and periodontal disease severities are related. Understanding the potential association between periodontitis and COVID-19 through systemic inflammation could be a means of achieving a high-quality medical care. To validate the findings, additional research with larger samples is required.