Assessment of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in post-COVID dentists by a modified CCCRC

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of sense loss and their deterioration within and post infection with COVID-19.

Materials and Methods: A systematic informative questionnaire was filled out for each participant. Chemosensitive symptoms were recorded by using n-butyl alcohol and environmentally realistic odorants and calculated in a modified way for the detection of olfactory function. The gustatory test scoring was done using the four standard primary tastes.

Results: Out of 133 participants, dentists were more commonly females (81, 61%) with the majority below 35 years of age (97, 72%). Half of the participants experienced smell and/or taste loss during the COVID-19 pandemic; whereas almost all reported having had olfactory dysfunction (132, 99.2%) and (105, 78.2%) gustatory dysfunction. Males reported a higher significant rate of taste loss (P=0.009) and females showed a higher recovery rate within the first two weeks after the onset than males. The Pfizer vaccine showed a significantly more frequent smell loss than other vaccinations (P=0.038).

Conclusions: Gender variation was noticed with taste and smell loss. Females recovered faster from dysfunction. Pfizer fully vaccinated participants were more prone to lose smell compared to others.