Oral Aspects Identified in Atopic Dermatitis Patients: A Literature Review

Abstract

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that is more prevalent in children (10-20% of the world's population) than in adults. As its etiology is multifactorial, it is important to know the most frequent oral manifestations in atopic dermatitis patients. Methodology: In the last decades, the correlation between atopic dermatitis and conditions and/or changes in the oral cavity has been demonstrated by several studies. The objective of this paper was to describe, through a review of the literature, the oral health conditions and/or oral aspects identified in patients with atopic dermatitis. Search Strategy: A descriptive literature review was carried out through a bibliographical survey based on the last 10 years, in order to answer the study questions. Results: As a result, we found six studies with different sample sizes, ranging from 43 to 468 patients, and the majority of them were of cross-sectional study design. Discussion: Two studies performed their analysis through dental exams and reported that patients with atopic dermatitis tend to have a greater frequency of carious lesions, and two studies correlated Candida with atopic dermatitis through mycological analyzes. Conclusion: There are a few studies in the literature that identify the oral aspects of atopic dermatitis. More investigations are needed in order to contribute to the knowledge of such oral aspects and the approach to treat these patients regarding oral health.