(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 12 - Covid-19 causes changes in many parts of the body, including the tongue and oral mucous membranes.
And among the side effects there also seems to be a feeling of bad breath that goes hand in hand with the course of the disease.
To shed light on this still little known aspect is a study conducted by the University of BRNO in the Czech Republic and published in the journal Special Care in Dentistry.
Halitosis, explains Silvia Masiero, expert of the Italian Society of Periodontology and Implantology (Sidp), "is a condition that often goes hand in hand with a series of respiratory, gastrointestinal and gum diseases. These, in fact, can alter the characteristics saliva and the presence of anaerobic microorganisms present on the tongue or near the teeth and the production of volatile sulfur compounds, which cause the characteristic unpleasant odor ".
As other pandemics break out, cases of halitosis reported to specialists have increased with the spread of Sars-Cov-2 infection.
To better understand the reason, a recent study examined 18 patients with Covid-19, who experienced new-onset halitosis during the infection and sought assistance for this problem between May and August 2020, also complaining of psychological discomfort.
Their average age was 35, and most of them had an adequate level of oral hygiene.
The cases examined suggest that possible changes in the surface of the tongue may be caused by Sars ‐ CoV ‐ 2 due to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (Ace2) receptors which are abundantly localized in the mucous membrane of the mouth.
By scanning the back of the tongue, researchers from the Center for Evidence-based Health Care, led by Riad Abanoub, observed that halitosis was associated with epithelial changes in the mucous membrane of the desquamated tongue, which supports the hypothesis that Covid- 19 may cause a reduction in salivary flow, in turn linked to a higher incidence of halitosis.
In addition, antibiotics are often used in Covid patients and these in turn modify the proliferation of oral bacterial species associated with halitosis.
It is also plausible, the study notes, that the impact of the disease may have worsened the behaviors related to oral hygiene at home and decreased dental care, which directly affects the oral microbiome.
The last hypothesis, finally, concludes Masiero is "the use of masks could have increased the self-perception of the problem. All these aspects highlight a series of still little known correlations that are worth continuing to study".
(HANDLE).