Abstract
The pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is considered as the biggest global health crisis for the world since the Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic. Driven by the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus infection, the rapid spread of this disease and the related pneumonia COVID-19 are a challenge for healthcare systems in over the world, and it is a constantly evolving situation with new symptoms and prognostic factors. SARS-CoV-2 has lately been detected in infected patient’s oral cavity; the COVID-19 outbreak is an alert that all dental and other health professionals must be vigilant in defending against the infectious disease spread. This review summarizes an update from current medical literature about the relationship between oral cavity and coronavirus disease by presenting some oral aspects which was detected in infected patients such as the oral lesions related to this virus and its therapeutic protocol, taste disorders and also the diagnostic value of saliva for SARS-CoV-2.
Highlights
The present outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus strain (COVID-19) constitutes a worldwide public health emergency [1]
This review summarizes an update from current medical literature about the relationship between oral cavity and coronavirus disease by presenting some oral aspects which was detected in infected patients such as the oral lesions related to this virus and its therapeutic protocol, taste disorders and the diagnostic value of saliva for SARS-CoV-2
On January 30, 2020, the rampant spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease was declared by World Health Organization (WHO) as a public health emergency with a currently known overall mortality rate to be as high as 3.4% [3,4]
Summary
The present outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus strain (COVID-19) constitutes a worldwide public health emergency [1]. Six different coronavirus have been identified: HCoV-OC43, HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63, HKU1, the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV and (SARS)-CoV [7, 8] The latter virus became widely discussed recently, the first human coronaviruses were isolated for the first time in 1937 [9]. Considering that SARS-CoV-2 was recently identified in saliva of infected patients [14, 15], the COVID-19 outbreak is a reminder that dental/oral and other health professionals must always be rigorous and accurate in protecting against the spread of infectious disease, and it provides a chance to determine if a non-invasive saliva diagnostic for COVID-19 could assist in detecting such viruses and reducing the spread [15]. Due to the characteristics of dental settings, the risk of cross infection may be high between dental/oral practitioners and patients
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