Oral manifestations of COVID-19: Brief review

Abstract

The infection with a new type of virus - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) - called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first described in December 2019, in Wuhan, China. Due to the gastrointestinal mucosa tropism of the virus, an attempt was made to describe the oral manifestations of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which permits the attachment of the virus, is present also in the oral cavity. There are many symptoms in the oral cavity; among them, the most prevalent ones are dysgeusia (taste disorders), oral pain, the exacerbation of autoimmune diseases as well as the herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV) infections. Ulcerations and aphthous stomatitis are also often mentioned. The research shows that there are many oral symptoms in COVID-19, but the coexistence with the main disease has not been fully stated and understood. There is still no clearance on whether the oral symptoms are the manifestations of the disease or occur due to the loss of the immune response. Therefore, further studies on this subject should be conducted.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor; oral cavity.