The Interconnection between Masks and Oral Health

Abstract

In healthy individuals, the immune system processes pathogens with a natural immune response that is mild and non-lethal [1];however in diseased tissues like the gum disease (Periodontitis), the immune system is compromised- which overreact to affect other organs and tissues During the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918-1919, common people, not just medical professionals were mandated to wear gauze face mask to limit the spread of the disease, and non-compliance led to tines, public ridicule and sometimes jail time [3] The oral cavity supports about 700 bacterial which are involved in the differentiation and maturation of immune cells, maintenance of the immune system and balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes in the immune cells which are basically Neutrophils, T cells, B cells, monocytes, macrophages dendritic cells