Oral Manifestations of COVID-19 Correlated to Medical and Drug History. A Survey on Infected Medical Doctors

Abstract

Objective: Reporting the oral symptoms of COVID-19 and correlate the occurrence of these symptoms with various possible etiologic factors.Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey targeted Medical doctors infected with COVID-19. The survey questioned the diagnosis of the disease, the severity of the disease symptoms, the oral symptoms along with drug and medical history. A total sample of 312 response were analyzed and correlated with various factors including the patients’ age, sex, medical history, drug history, hospitalization and severity of COVID-19 symptoms.Results: Oral manifestations were reported in 72.5% of the participants. The most common oral manifestations were dysgeusia in 76% of patients which was partial in 64% of the participants. Xerostomia was reported in 41.6% of cases. Aphthous stomatitis and recurrent herpetic infections were also reported.Conclusion: The most common oral manifestations of COVID-19 are dysgeusia and xerostomia followed by oral ulcers. The occurrence of oral manifestations is increased by 4.7 folds among patients with underlying systemic diseases.