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Objective: To explore if the oral lesions in coronavirus disease-2019 patients are caused by the drugs used in the treatment or by the virus itself.Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2020 to September 2021 at the Kafrelsheikh University Hospital, Egypt, and comprised coronavirus disease-2019 patients of either gender aged 20-60 years having severe pneumonia and breathing difficulties who had no comorbidities. Based on the level of interleukin-6 and procalcitonin, the patients were classified into high group I receiving tocilizumab and methylprednisolone, medium group II receiving methylprednisolone alone, and low group III receiving antiviral drugs. The oral manifestations wererecorded at the time of admission before treatment and at 2 weeks after the respective treatment. Data was analysed using SPSS 20.Results: Of the 90 patients, 30(33.3%) were in group I; 16(%) males and 14(%) females with mean age 44.82±6.10 years. Group II had 27(%) patients; 14(%) males and 13(%) females with mean age 43.74±4.87 years. Group III had 33(%) patients; 9(%) males and 14(%) females with mean age 42.66±2.51 years (p>0.05). There was no significant difference among the groups at baseline and after 2 weeks of treatment regarding oral manifestations. Intragroup comparison demonstrated a significant difference in the two values in all the three groups (p<0.05).Conclusion: Oral lesions in coronavirus disease-2019 patients were caused by the virus itself rather than the drugs used in its treatment.Keywords: Tocilizumab, Dentists, Methylprednisolone, COVID-19.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of interleukin-6 and procalcitonin levels in plasma on the development of oral manifestation in patients of coronavirus disease-2019.Methods: The case-control study was conducted from January to September 2021 at Kafrelsheikh University Hospital, Egypt, and comprised severe coronavirus disease. One hundred patients of either gender aged 30-60 years were included. The patients were divided into two equal groups, with group I having patients with oral manifestations, and group II had those without any oral symptoms. Plasma samples from both the groups were used to determine serum interleukin-6 and procalcitonin levels using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Data was analysed using SPSS 20.Result: Of the 100 patients, 50(50%) were in each of the two groups. Group I had 29(58%) males and 21(42%) females with overall mean age 44.83±6.12 years. Group II had 26(52%) males and 24(48%) females with overall mean age of 43.68±4.62 years. Interleukin 6 was significantly high in group I than in group II (p<0.05), while there was no significant difference between the groups for procalcitonin level (p>0.05).Conclusion: Interleukin-6 level could play an important role in the development of oral manifestation in coronavirus disease-2019 patients.Keyword: Interleukin, Procalcitonin, Ageusia, COVID-19, Gingivitis, Candidiasis, Mucous membrane, Immunoassay.

Aim: This study was designed to compare the effects of tea tree oil and chlorhexidine mouth rinse in the treatment of gingivitis induced by orthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: Sixty patients undergoing orthodontic treatment and suffering from gingivitis were included and divided randomly into three groups, group I (20 patients): Patients received scaling and oral hygiene instructions, group II (20 patients): Patients received scaling, oral hygiene instructions and chlorhexidine mouth rinse and group III (20 patients): Patients received scaling, oral hygiene instructions and tea tree oil mouth rinse. Results:The results of this study revealed that all treatment modalities achieved a statistically significant reduction of the mean plaque index, gingival index and papillary bleeding index throughout the six months evaluation period as compared to the mean base-line values (P<0.001). This 6-month controlled clinical study demonstrated that the tea tree oil mouth rinse had comparable anti-gingivitis activity with chlorhexidine mouth rinse which is known to produce significantly higher levels of extrinsic stain. Conclusion:Due to side effects associated with the chlorhexidine mouth rinse, it is suggested that tea tree oil mouth rinse can be used instead, as it proved to have a distinct role in the management of gingivitis induced by orthodontic treatment.

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