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Poor Health Literacy (HL) amongst the public could underly suboptimal acceptance of health promotion and disease prevention advice. This scoping review aimed to investigate any association between the population´s HL and health status centered on Oral Medicine (OM) Studies reporting patients´ HL levels and health outcomes linked to the OM field were selected using Medline/PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases. Rayyan and EndNote 20 software were used for article selection, and the results were descriptively analyzed. Of the 697 studies, ten assessed patients´ HL, and knowledge/awareness linked to OM conditions. Oral and oropharyngeal cancers have been the most studied pathologies. Low HL levels and sociodemographic factors were associated with knowledge gaps on oral diseases. Furthermore, subjects with limited HL use prevention and oral health promotion services less frequently than the average citizen. Inadequate HL in public at large has been widely researched in the medical and dental field, with most studies showing adverse health consequences. However, further studies are needed on patients with oral and maxillofacial diseases, especially those treated at OM services. There is a need for improved oral HL amongst the public and for improved communication skills between patients and professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• WMF may be used as a reliable diagnostic sample. • High SARS-CoV2 copies in the NPS imply early disease onset. • High SARS-CoV2 copies in the WMF and RD imply more severe disease and increased inflammation. Association of SARS-CoV2 burden in the aerodigestive tract with the disease is sparsely understood. We propose to elucidate the implications of SARS-CoV2 copies in concurrent nasopharyngeal swab (NPS), whole mouth fluid (WMF) and respiratory droplet (RD) samples on disease pathogenesis/transmission. SARS-CoV2 copies quantified by RT-PCR in concurrent NPS, WMF and RD samples from 80 suspected COVID-19 patients were analysed with demographics, immune response and disease severity. Among the 55/80 (69 %) NPS-positive patients, SARS-CoV2 was detected in 44/55 (80 %) WMF (concordance with NPS-84 %; p = 0.02) and 17/55 (31 %) RD samples. SARS-CoV2 copies were similar in NPS (median:8.74 × 10^5) and WMF (median:3.07 × 10^4), but lower in RD (median:3.60 × 10^2). The 25–75 % interquartile range of SARS-CoV2 copies in the NPS was significantly higher in patients who shed the virus in WMF (p = 0.0001) and RD (p = 0.01). Multivariate analyses showed that hospitalized patients shed significantly higher virus copies in the WMF (p = 0.01). Hospitalized patients with more severe disease (p = 0.03) and higher IL-6 values (p = 0.001) shed more SARS-CoV2 virus in the RD. WMF may be used reliably as a surrogate for diagnosis. High copy numbers in the NPS probably imply early disease onset, while in the WMF and RD may imply more severe disease and increased inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]