Oral Manifestations in Children Diagnosed with COVID-19: A Narrative Review

Abstract

The COVID-19 disease has many symptoms, including fever, dry cough, tachypnea, and shortness of breath, but other symptoms can accompany the disease. The disease can also have oral manifestations. The aim of this narrative review is to describe the oral manifestations of COVID-19 in children and adolescents by summarizing the current knowledge as it was described in various case reports and original articles. A review of the literature was carried out by searching the online databases PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, between October 2022 and 12 November 2022. For this narrative review, 890 articles from three databases and manual search were screened. Saliva was discovered to be a potential screening tool for the infection with the SARS-CoV-2, although it is most reliable in the first few days of infection. Different alteration of the oral mucosa, such as ulcers, erosions and gingivitis were reported. Oral manifestations accompanied children with COVID-19-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome, Kawasaki disease, thrombocytopenic purpura and erythema multiforme. COVID-19 had an indirect effect on oral harmful habits by decreasing their frequency during the lockdown. Although they occur more rarely, oral manifestations can accompany COVID-19 disease in children and adolescents, and they can be an early sign of the disease.

Oral manifestations of COVID‐19 and its management in pediatric patients: A systematic review and practical guideline

“…Measles, influenza, adenoviruses, herpes simplex virus, and parvovirus B‐19 can all cause acute parotitis as a secondary viral infection. Little is known about the incidence of enlarged salivary glands in children with COVID‐19 (Brehm et al, 2022 ; Likitnukul, 2022 ; Moca et al, 2023 ). The SARS‐CoV‐2 virus might be transmitted from the salivary glands to the respiratory or digestive systems.…”

Consequences of COVID-19 and Its Variants: Understanding the Physical, Oral, and Psychological Impact

“…Recent data on the oral consequences of COVID-19 have shown a link between infection with the virus and oral complications. A narrative review concluded that COVID-19 patients had a higher prevalence of oral manifestations compared to healthy controls [ 25 ]. A separate Nigerian study [ 26 ] found that COVID-19 patients had a higher prevalence of oral complications such as dry mouth, taste disturbances, and oral ulcers than healthy controls.…”