Int. J. Environ. Res.

Public Health 2021, 18, 11521 4 of 14

Figure 2. PRISMA flow diagram presenting search strategy.

From each eligible study included in the present systematic review, data about its
general characteristics, such as year of publication and setting, involved participants,
pharmacological treatment prior to the study and smoking habits and assessed clinical
indices were collected in Table 2. The majority of studies had complete information about
determined parameters. Four of the included studies did not have a control group, and
the others usually had healthy subjects with correctly matched demographic features to
the study group. In the study by Menegat et al. [20], only IBD patients diagnosed with
periodontal disease were included. Practically all the papers described the condition of
the oral cavity, taking into account both dental and periodontal status. Only one study
by Koutsochristou et al. [21] involved patients under the age of 18. Additionally, Table 3
presents the values of evaluated clinical indices and their reported statistical significance.