Effect of dental caries and the consequential variation in blood parameters on the anaerobic performance of rowing athletes

This study aimed to investigate the effect of dental caries and the subsequent poor oral health on the blood parameters and anaerobic performance of athletes. The study was conducted on 30 elite rowing athletes (18 male and 12 female) who had a DMF-T index value of 3.9 after an oral check-up. The athletes were split into two groups: the study group, which consisted of athletes having four or more infected tooth; and the control group with athletes having one or no infected tooth. The study group consisted of 15 athletes (9 male and 6 female) with infected tooth number ≥4, DMF-T value of 7, and a mean age of 18.73 ± 1.05 years, whereas the control group consisted of also 15 athletes (9 male and 6 female) with DMF-T value of 0.9 and a mean age of 18.26 ± 2.01 years. The anaerobic capacity of athletes was measured using the Wingate test (WanT). The two demographically similar groups had no difference in their blood parameters and urine density values (P > 0.05). Also, no statistically significant difference in the WanT results was observed between the two groups, and WanT performances were similar in both groups (P > 0.05). Further, the superficial decay at the enamel and dentine levels did not negatively impact the anaerobic performance of athletes. On the contrary, it was suggested that studies should be conducted on the effect of severe dental caries at the pulpal level on athletic performance, which may also cause chronic inflammation.