Correlation of periodontal disease and complications of COVID-19: an integrative review

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2 that can cause damage to the lungs and other organs, of which most patients with COVID-19 have mild symptoms, however, some can develop serious illnesses such as pneumonia, edema lung disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ dysfunction syndromes that can lead to death. In patients with compromised oral health who become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus can enter the systemic circulation of the periodontal pockets via gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and then mix with saliva, or it can enter the systemic circulation via periodontal capillaries. In this way, the viruses associated with the periodontium can infect cells of the immune system that continually infiltrate the periodontal pocket. The literature reviews used and the observation of randomized studies were from the Bireme, PubMed, SciElo, and LILACS databases from 2007 to March 2021. To show that periodontal disease can further increase the release of cytokines via altered microflora, which cause complications in patients affected by Covid-19