Association between Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) Severity and Periodontal Health

Akcalı A., Özgen Alpaydın A., Çelik M., Uzun Saylan B. C., Arayıcı M. E., Huck O.

EuroPerio11, Vienna, Avusturya, 14 - 17 Mayıs 2025, ss.1

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Vienna
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Avusturya
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Background & Aim: To evaluate the association between COVID-19 severity and periodontal health in a Turkish population.
Methods: Patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Demographic variables, smoking status, COVID-19 symptoms, SpO2 levels, and markers of inflammation (D-Dimer, lymphocytes, white blood cell count, CRP) were recorded. Data on oral and periodontal health were gathered using self-reported questionnaires (OHIP-14, Periodontal screening score (PESS)). Multivariable logistic regressions were performed to evaluate the association between COVID-19-associated parameters and periodontal status.
Results: The study included 134 patients (n = 68, 50.7% were female) with a mean age of 48.7 ± 18.2 years. Most individuals (69.2%) were asymptomatic, 22.3% experienced mild symptoms, and 8.5% reported moderate or severe symptoms. SpO2 levels were found to be higher in asymptomatic patients (96.4 ± 2.8) compared to mild (90.4 ± 5.1) and moderate/severe patients (86.6 ± 8.9) (p < 0.001). The PESS was found to be significantly lower in the asymptomatic group (3.47 ± 2.37) than in the mild group (5.10 ± 2.94) (p = 0.011). There was no statistically significant difference concerning OHIP-14 score (p = 0.316), periodontitis (p = 0.130), brushing habits (p = 0.901), and frequency of dental visits (p = 0.975) when considering COVID-19 severity.
Conclusions: Oxygen saturation and PESS variations emphasised the complexity of the disease's presentation. Even associations between COVID-19 severity and oral health indicators, including the OHIP-14 score, periodontitis, brushing habits, and dental visits, were weak; male gender, PESS and BMI are independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity in this patient cohort.