Manifestations of the oral mucosa and salivary glands in irritable bowel syndrome and microscopic colitis - A systematic review.

Objective: There is a well-established association of oral manifestations in the non-infectious chronic diarrhoeal conditions namely, Morbus Crohn, ulcerative colitis, and coeliac disease. Such a connection may exist also for the remaining non-infectious chronic diarrhoeal conditions, that is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and microscopic colitis (MC).

Materials and methods: A systematic search was performed in Scopus and PubMed, rendering a total of 710 articles to be screened. All articles were screened independently and assessed for eligibility reporting comorbidity between either IBS or MC, and oral symptoms/disease. Quality assessment and data extraction were performed.

Results: In all, 17 articles were included. Sjögren's syndrome (SS) in patients with IBS ranged from 3% to 33% and for IBS in SS between 29% to 62%. Dry mouth, bad breath, and foul taste were overrepresented in these patients. The occurrence of SS in patients with MC ranged from 2% to 9%, and for MC in SS from 1% to 2%.

Conclusions: An association between SS and IBS and MC, respectively, is plausible. Few articles have explored other oral manifestations. Therefore, no specific conclusions can be drawn. It is pivotal to further explore oral manifestations of these conditions bridging the gap between dental care and general medicine to optimise diagnostics, treatment strategies, and ultimately patient care.