Title
Oral health implications of Polypharmacy: A review
Authors
Lakshmiprasanna Kolla1,*, Simran Jyot Kaur2, Ayesha Imtiaz3, Shubham Chopra4, Sree Rekha Movva5 & Sai Keerthi Kalluri6
Affiliation
1Department of Dentistry, Government Dental College & Hospital, Hyderabad, Telangana, India; 2Department of Dentistry, Sibar Institute of Dental Sciences andhra Pradesh, India; 3Department of Dentistry, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan; 4Department of Dentistry, Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College and Hospital, Punjab, India; 5Department of Dentistry, Kamineni Institute of Dental Sciences, Telangana, India; 6Department of Dentistry, Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram, India; *Corresponding author
Lakshmiprasanna Kolla - E-mail: kollalakshmi888@gmail.com
Simran Jyot Kaur - E-mail: kaursimranjyot97@gmail.com
Ayesha Imtiaz - E-mail: ayeshaImtiaz025@gmail.com
Shubham Chopra - E-mail: shubham14327chopra@gmail.com
Sree Rekha Movva - E-mail: sreerekha.movva@gmail.com
Sai Keerthi Kalluri - E-mail: sai2022edu@gmail.com
Article Type
Review
Date
Received July 1, 2026; Revised July 31, 2026; Accepted July 31, 2026, Published July 31, 2026
Abstract
Polypharmacy is increasingly common among older adults and medically compromised individuals, posing significant challenges to oral healthcare. Therefore, it is of interest to describe the effect of multiple long-term medications on oral tissues and their implications for dental treatment planning. Common medication-related oral manifestations include xerostomia, gingival enlargement, taste disturbances, bruxism, mucosal lesions and medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. Recognition of these adverse effects supports comprehensive risk assessment and safe, individualized dental management. Thus, data shows that integrating medication-related oral complications with practical strategies is needed for improving multidisciplinary dental care in patients with polypharmacy.
Keywords
Polypharmacy, oral manifestations of polypharmacy, xerostomia, gingival hyperplasia, oral candidiasis and medication related osteonecrosis of the jaw, dental treatment planning, drug interactions, preventive and management approaches
Citation
Kolla et al. Bioinformation 22(7): 4199-4204 (2026)
Edited by
Ritik Kashwani
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
