The appearance of oral manifestations in children infected with COVID-19: A critical review of the literature

Abstract

Objective The aim of this narrative review of the literature is to summarize the evidence on the prevalence of oral manifestations and to ascertain at what point in time oral manifestations present in children infected with SARS-CoV-2. Method Databases PUBMED, Google Scholar and Ebsco were used. The search terms: COVID 19, oral manifestations and child, along with age filters were applied to generate the articles published between 2020-2021.The abstracts of the articles were first read and then those articles that were relevant were evaluated in detail. Results Hyperaemic pharynx and dysgeusia were prevalent in children with COVID-19 disease while edematous and erythematous lips and strawberry tongue were frequently seen in patients diagnosed with multisytem inflammatory syndrome in children. In some sources the onset of oral manifestations was unclear resulting in inconclusive evidence. Conclusion Oral manifestations are commonly seen amongst the earliest manifestations of COVID-19, and may happen prior to presenting other symptoms, or up to a week after other manifestations of the disease. The appearance of oral manifestations in children with COVID -19 like symptoms may be an indicator of disease severity and the likelihood that disease progression could potentially be more severe and have more detrimental outcomes.