Oral Prosthesis and Diabetes: Circumventing the Opportunistic Fungal Infections during SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
Published: 2022-09-08
Page: 251-254
Issue: 2022 - Volume 5 [Issue 1]
H. S. Sreeshyla
Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, JSS Dental College and Hospital, A Constituent College of JSS AHER, Mysuru, Karnataka, India.
Srinivas Iyer Meenakshi *
Department of Prosthodontics, JSS Dental College and Hospital, A Constituent College of JSS AHER, Mysuru, Karnataka, India.
Aradya Anupama
Department of Prosthodontics, JSS Dental College and Hospital, A Constituent College of JSS AHER, Mysuru, Karnataka, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Diabetes is one of the most common systemic disease affecting the world and India accounts for the 2nd highest burden. Diabetes and oral health have a bidirectional relationship. Oral health issues are common among the diabetics, with higher incidence of xerostomia, dental caries, periodontal pathologies and tooth loss reported among them in comparison to the non-diabetics. The population wearing dentures and reported with denture associated stomatitis are also higher. The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has devastating effects on diabetic patients with post Covid complications including fungal infections such as mucormycosis being reported high among this group. Oral fungal infections are common among diabetes patients especially among the denture wearers. Palate is one of the common site of involvement by oral candidiasis and mucormycosis. It is time to educate denture wearing diabetic patients on the importance of oral and denture hygiene.
Keywords: Diabetes, denture, oral candidiasis, fungal infections, mucormycosis, SARS-CoV-2, oral hygiene