Why poor dental health can increase your risk of Covid

Analysis: Good oral health and oral care can significantly reduce the risk of developing severe Covid symptoms.

NS Sim K. Singhrao, University of Central Lancashire When Alice Harding, University of Central Lancashire

If you don’t brush your teeth, you’ll get into trouble with your dentist, but since the advent of the pandemic, it can lead to bigger problems. There is increasing evidence that poor oral health poses an increased risk of Covid.

research Shows that when a person with poor oral health is infected with the coronavirus, it can cause more serious symptoms. Covid patient I also have periodontal disease The chances of being admitted to the intensive care unit are 3.5 times higher than those who do not. Also, you are 4.5 times more likely to need to wear a ventilator and 9 times more likely to die from Covid.

This may seem shocking, but given the link between oral hygiene and other illnesses, the fact that there is a link between oral hygiene and Covid is not so surprising. Poor oral hygiene is associated with exacerbating many other illnesses. Mostly this happens after long periods of poor hygiene, Dysbiosis – Where the bacteria in the mouth change from a peaceful state to an aggressive state.

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From Today With Sarah McInterney on RTÉ Radio 1, dentist Dr. Robert Bow misses on dental health issues

Exacerbation of bacteria in the mouth can cause periodontal disease. Chew the tissue Enter the mouth and bloodstream. And when they get there, the bacteria flow around the body and settle in various organs, increasing the level of inflammation and contributing to various specific chronic conditions over time.

Indeed, if this happens, there are few parts of the body that could potentially be unaffected. If the oral health is poor, heart, Increase blood pressure Exacerbate diabetes Blood glucose level..Linked Premature birth., arthritis, Kidney disease, Respiratory disease And even some Neurodegenerative disease, include Alzheimer’s disease..

So is the same thing happening with Covid?

probably. Compared to people with mild or moderate symptoms, people with severe Covid have elevated levels of certain inflammatory markers (called CRP).Some people with severe Covid are also so-called “Cytokine storm”, Here the immune system Enter overdrive It repels the virus and at the same time harms the body’s own tissues.

research Shows that even people with poor oral health may have elevated levels of CRP and cytokines. This suggests that periodontal disease can provoke the same kind of enthusiastic immune response as Covid (to a lesser extent). Therefore, if both coronavirus and aggressive oral bacteria are circulated in the blood and encounter two diseases at the same time, they together tilt the immune response and harm the body’s own tissues. , Can exacerbate people’s outcomes.

However, little is currently understood about how oral hygiene and Covid interact exactly, and it is possible that they may be combined in other ways to exacerbate the disease.

for example, Big problem Covid and other respiratory viral diseases result in superinfection of bacteria. These are places where areas that are directly infected with the virus, such as the lungs and respiratory tract, are also infected with bacteria.

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From the RTÉ Radio 1 drivetime, Dr. Mike Gow of the Berkeley Clinic in Glasgow talked about performing dental treatment under hypnosis.

Bacterial superinfection General of Those who have Covid, And they Pretty common For people with severe illness. I don’t know exactly how they will affect me, Reasonable to assume These co-infections increase the risk of serious illness and death. Throughout the pandemic the study Most of the people who died in Covid – In some cases 50% – At the same time, I was infected with bacteria.

If someone has poor oral hygiene, this can increase the risk of superinfection. Poor oral hygiene means that the bacteria in the mouth are more aggressive. I took a breath Respiratory tract and lungs to initiate superinfection.

In addition to this, poor oral health can help the coronavirus infect the body.Enzymes from bacteria that cause periodontal disease Change the surface Other microorganisms in the mouth and respiratory tract, such as coronavirus, attach to these surfaces and facilitate their growth there.

Over time, it becomes clear exactly how oral health affects the progression of Covid. For some people, all of these mechanisms may be working at the same time.

However, for the time being, poor oral hygiene is sufficient evidence to be considered a risk factor for complications in people with Covid, especially those already suffering from conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. there is. It is exacerbated by poor oral health and is itself a risk factor for COVID.

Therefore, maintaining proper oral hygiene is more important than ever. This means brushing with fluoride toothpaste twice daily for at least 2 minutes and visiting your dentist on a regular basis. We hope that you will not be infected with the coronavirus, but if you do, good oral health and oral care can significantly reduce your risk of developing severe symptoms.

Sim K. Singhrao I am a senior researcher in the Faculty of Dentistry. University of Central Lancashire.. Alice Harding Is a Specialist Care Dentist and PhD Candidate for the Dental Clinic. University of Central Lancashire..This article was originally published by conversation..

The views presented here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ.