Alexandru-Emilian Flondor, Maria-Alexandra Martu, Vasilica Toma, George-Alexandru Maftei, Irina-Georgeta Sufaru, Liliana Pasarin, Odette-Elena Luca, Darius Sandu, Ioana Martu
Abstract
At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, children appeared to be less susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection than adults or more prone to develop asymptomatic and mild forms of the disease, which could have led to an underestimation of epidemiological data in young patients. Age-related differences in viral receptor expression, immune system competence, and comorbidity rates partially explained the lower prevalence of COVID-19 infection in pediatric patients. However, especially after the spread of the Omicron virus variant and due to the relaxation of social and health measures, the number of young people infected with SARS-CoV-2 has increased. The aim of the conducted study was to investigate periodontal clinical parameters, represented by plaque index, probing bleeding index and clinical periodontal attachment loss in pediatric patients, along with a series of demographic parameters, in the post-SARS-CoV-2 infection period. Conclusions: Our study provided evidence of widespread declines in periodontal health status and access to oral health care among children post-SARS-CoV-2 infection. Subjects with a lower amount of plaque showed a high intensity of periodontal inflammation, negatively correlated with time since diagnosis, a fact that supports the influence of the cytokine storm released post-SARS-CoV-2 infection and at the periodontal level.
DOI : 10.6261/RJOR.2024.2.16.24
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