The oral cavity state in professional athletes on the background of intense physical exercises

Aim. To estimate the parameters of dental and immune status of professional athletes’ oral cavity on the background of intense physical exercises.

Methods. Clinical and laboratory studies of oral cavity of 122 athletes were conducted. The inclusion criteria for the study group were the athletes involved in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling with identical living conditions, nutrition, training, aged 19 to 27 years. Athletic experience of professional sports was 8 to 13 years. The presence of chronic catarrhal gingivitis and chronic generalized periodontitis of mild and moderate severity were identified. Biochemical studies were conducted in 92 male athletes (wrestlers of the free and classical style) aged 19 to 27 years. Samples of saliva were collected in the morning on an empty stomach 15-30 min prior to training and within 1 h after the intensive training sessions.

Results. Before the start of the training of wrestlers with intact periodontium no signs of bleeding gums were detected, but at the end of the training process due to rising intensity of physical exercise, deterioration of the hygienic condition of the oral cavity and increasing blood flow, bleeding developed. After completion of the cycle of intense physical training with heavy loads aimed at the development of strength endurance in the prelaunch period, the immune status of the examined athletes changes a little. In accordance with the received data of laboratory investigations highly qualified athletes have decreased secretory immunoglobulin A on the background of significantly increased proinflammatory cytokine in the same biotope of the oral cavity.

Conclusion. Long-term and excessive exercise often lead to changes of local immunity in the oral cavity and development of pathological processes in periodontal tissues that indicates the feasibility of their timely diagnosis and correction.