The relationship between periodontal disease and alcohol: a review of literature

OBJECTIVES The goal of the present study was to evaluate how the prolonged alcohol assumption in connection to the quantity of alcohol units may affect the health of oral cavity and to find preventive strategies to improve the oral health in alcohol addicted patients, dental treatments and professional oral hygiene for a better health and quality of life, by a review of the literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS The research was carried out using the key words: "Alcoholism" AND "Alcohol Use Disorder" AND "Oral Care" AND "Periodontal Disease" AND "Alcohol" in the PubMed database. RESULTS The research resulted in 21 articles published in the period from 1995 to 2020. Articles were selected that searched for a correlation between oral health and the harmful use of alcohol. CONCLUSIONS The dental hygienist has the task of carrying out preventive education and helping alcoholic patients to maintain good oral health since they are of primary importance for this type of patient. Nutritional advice is also fundamental, even if alcoholic beverages are high in calories, there are no important nutritional elements that can cause an important imbalance in the diet. The increased susceptibility to infections, the increase in bone loss and periodontal attachment, the greater risk of cancer of the oral cavity make it therefore essential to have recalls with periodic checks, performing nutritional assessments and implementing fluoridation programs in order to guarantee adequate maintenance of the state of health of the oral cavity. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE The negative effects of alcohol can increase the susceptibility of the host to infections, such as periodontitis.