COVID-19 AND PERIODONTITIS NEXUS

Periodontal disease may increase the risk of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) complications. COVID-19 complications such as ARDS and multi-organ failure are mainly caused by severe systemic inflammation and thrombotic lesions. These complications are associated with certain risk factors and conditions many of which are also linked to periodontitis. These possible associations between periodontitis and COVID-19 complications could stem from either a direct effect of periodontitis on systemic inflammation from an indirect effect of periodontitis on other risk factors of COVID-19 or due to predisposing conditions common to both periodontitis and COVID-19 such as diabetes and genetic variants.