Assessment of Periodontal Diseases in Diabetic Patients

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by chronic hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. Periodontal disease is an inflammatory process that affects the protective and supportive tissues around the tooth. Presence of diabetes predisposes an individual for various pathological entities. Hence; the present study was planned for assessing presence of periodontal diseases among diabetic patients.

Materials & methods: A total of 200 diabetic patients were enrolled in the present study. Complete demographic and clinical data of all the patients was obtained. Also a total of 200 non-diabetic patients were enrolled of comparable age and gender. These subjects were included as control group. All the patients were recalled in the morning and thorough oral examination was carried out using mouth mirror, probe and tweezers. Periodontal pathologies were recorded in both the study groups.

Results: While analyzing statistically, it was seen that periodontal pathologies were more common among diabetic subjects. Among the diabetic group, mean duration of diabetes among patients with present of periodontal pathologies was 12.5 years while among patients without periodontal pathologies was 8.1 years. Significantly higher duration of diabetes was associated among diabetic patients with periodontal pathologies.

Conclusion: Diabetes has been associated to different periodontal pathologies. It should be kept in mind that the level of metabolic control and duration of diabetes appear to influence the risk for periodontal disease.