ORAL MANIFESTATIONS OF COVID-19 INFECTION: AN ANALYTICAL CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

TYPE: Abstract TOPIC: Chest Infections PURPOSE: The current COVID 19 pandemic has created a huge impact across the globe. Recent literature has reported the occurrence of varied oral lesions in COVID 19 patients in the form of sporadic case reports. This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out to gauge and understand the pattern of oral lesions in qualitative RT-PCR confirmed COVID 19 patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving a total of 500 qualitative RT-PCR confirmed, hospitalized COVID-19 patients were meticulously scanned for any hard and soft tissue lesions developing concomitantly with the disease occurrence. RESULTS: This study included a total of 367 (73.4%) males and 133 (26.6%) female patients with a mean age of 53.46 ± 17.50 years. Almost 51.2% of patients presented with gustatory disturbance, 28% with xerostomia, and 15.4% of patients were found to have oral findings like erythema, ulcers, depapillation of the tongue. There was a statistically significant correlation between oral manifestations and disease severity (p= <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 is found to affect oral health with greater probability in patients with severe diseases (SARI) which may be due to disease itself, immune response, and lack of motivation for personal hygiene measures. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: COVID 19 infection is definitely found to have a significant effect on the oral health of the patients with increased findings in the severe form of the disease. As oral health care providers, it is important for us to understand the common presentations so that we can screen such patients and direct them to appropriate screening and testing centers. DISCLOSURE: Nothing to declare. KEYWORD: Covid 19, oral