STATUS OF ORAL HEALTH AMONG ATHLETES

Relevance of the problem. Rising popularity of sports activities is concentrating attention on the development of oral disorders associated with athletic performance. Poor oral health is a significant issue because it can cause pain, have a negative impact on appearance, and the qua­lity of life. The oral environment is impacted by lifestyle, individual oral hygiene and eating habits.

Aim of work. The purpose of this literature is to investi­gate the status of oral health among athletes.

Material and methods. The PRISMA Statement’s met­hodological principles were followed for the systematic review of scientific literature. Electronic literature re­view was performed using MEDLINE databases and the selection of the articles, published in English between 2011 and 2022 year. Data gathering protocol was created before collecting data and studying the literature. The publication search was focused on keywords and their combinations: oral health, oral diseases, sports, athletes, oral environment, performance.

Results. Dental trauma was reported in three of the stu­dies that were included in the review (n=92, 5,8% of 1565 subjects). Olympic sports/ mixed sports, swimming, football, multisport games and rugby were the investiga­ted sports. The worst finding was gingivitis (BPE codes 1-2), which was present in more than three quarters of athletes. None of these studies focused on impact, but there was consensus that oral health has an influence on performance. The oral health of the athletes who were sampled is quite poor. Poor oral health was found to have a detrimental impact on athletes’ self-reported levels of training and performance. It’s possible that pain, decrea­sed well-being and increased systemic inflammation are the underlying causes of this effect. Access to preventive care may be more challenging for individuals who are required to participate in rigorous training programs.

Conclusions. Findings of the review indicate that the oral health of athletes is not very good: prone to dental traumas, caries, and gingivitis. Athletes must be evalua­ted by dentists during sports activities for changes affec­ting their oral environment. Epidemiological studies are required to determine the true extent and severity of oral diseases in athletes competing in a wide variety of sports.