Why having poor dental health could increase your risk of Covid

Analysis: Having good oral health and taking care of your mouth could significantly reduce your risk of developing severe symptoms of Covid

Through Sim K. Singhrao, University of Central Lancashire and Alice harding, University of Central Lancashire

Not brushing your teeth will get you in trouble with the dentist – but since the onset of the pandemic, it could lead to bigger problems as well. There is growing evidence that poor oral health increases the risk posed by Covid.

Research shows that people with poor oral health can end up with more severe symptoms if they catch the coronavirus. Covid patients who also have gum disease are 3.5 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care than others. They are also 4.5 times more likely to need to be put on a ventilator and nine times more likely to die from Covid.

It may sound shocking, but the fact that there is a link between oral health and Covid is less surprising when one considers the link between oral hygiene and other diseases. Poor oral hygiene has been linked to the worsening of many other diseases. This mainly occurs when poor hygiene is maintained for long periods of time, leading to dysbiosis – where bacteria in the mouth change from a peaceful state to an aggressive state.

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From RTÉ Radio 1’s Today With Sarah McInterney, dentist Dr. Robert Bowe on the dental health issues we miss

Once the bacteria in the mouth get worse, they can cause gum disease, chew tissue mouth and enters the bloodstream. And once there, bacteria can then travel around the body and take up residence in various organs, increasing levels of inflammation and over time contributing to a variety of specific and chronic conditions.

This is because if this happens, there is hardly a part of the body that cannot potentially be affected. Poor oral health can have an impact on heart, to augment arterial pressure and worsen diabetes by increasing blood sugar level. He has been linked to premature births, arthritis, kidney disease, breathing illness and even some neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

So, is the same thing happening with Covid?

May be. Compared to those with mild or moderate symptoms, people with severe Covid have high levels of a specific inflammatory marker (called CRP). Some people with severe Covid also suffer from what is called a “cytokine storm”, where the immune system goes overdrive fight the virus and damage the body’s own tissues at the same time.

Research shows that people with poor oral health also sometimes have high levels of CRP and cytokines – suggesting that gum disease may trigger the same type of zealous immune response as Covid (although to a lesser degree ). So if the two diseases are encountered at the same time, with the coronavirus and the aggressive oral bacteria both circulating in the blood, then it is possible that together they can shift the immune response to damage the body’s own tissues, resulting in worse results for people.

However, we currently understand little about how oral hygiene and Covid exactly interact, and it could be that they combine in other ways to make the disease worse as well.

For example, a big problem along with Covid and other respiratory viral diseases are secondary bacterial infections. This is where areas directly infected with the virus – such as the lungs and respiratory tract – are simultaneously infected with bacteria.

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From RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime, Dr Mike Gow from the Berkeley Clinic in Glasgow on dental treatment under hypnosis

Secondary bacterial infections are common in people who have covid, and they are much more frequent in people with serious illness. It is not clear exactly what impact they have, but it is reasonable to assume that these concomitant infections increase the risk of serious illness and death. Throughout the pandemic, studies found that a large proportion of people dying from Covid – in some cases, 50% – were also infected with bacteria at the same time.

If a person’s oral hygiene is poor, it could increase the risk of secondary infection. Poor oral hygiene means more aggressive bacteria in the mouth, which could then easily be blown into respiratory tract and lungs to trigger superinfection.

On top of that, poor oral health can also help the coronavirus to infect the body. Enzymes in bacteria that cause gum disease can modify the surface mouth and respiratory tract, which makes it easier for other microbes – such as the coronavirus – to adhere to and grow on these surfaces.

Over time, it will become more clear exactly how oral health affects the progression of Covid. For some people, all of these mechanics may be in play at the same time.

But in the meantime, there is enough evidence to consider poor oral hygiene as a risk factor for complications in people with Covid – and especially in those who already have conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure. or cardiovascular disease, as they can be made worse by poor oral health and are themselves risk factors for COVID.

It is therefore more important than ever to maintain good oral hygiene. This means brushing your teeth twice a day for at least two minutes with toothpaste containing fluoride and going to the dentist regularly. I hope you don’t catch the coronavirus, but if you do, having good oral health and taking care of your mouth could significantly reduce your risk of developing serious symptoms.

Sim K. Singhrao is a principal investigator at the School of Dentistry of the University of Central Lancashire. Alice harding is a dentist specializing in care and a doctoral student at the School of Dentistry of the University of Central Lancashire. This article was originally published by The conversation.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ