INFLUENCE OF DIABETES MELLITUS ON ORAL HEALTH

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 has been illustrated as a new endemic disease. About 285 million people globally suffer from diabetes. Even though there is authentic evidence that supports the correlation between diabetes mellitus and oral health, oral health knowledge is deficient among patients with diabetes and other health physicians. There is a requirement for a general physician to be well-informed regarding a variety of oral manifestations of diabetes with the intention to diagnose before time and referrals to oral health professionals can be made.

This study was conducted to compare between oral health status of diabetic and non-diabetic patients and frequency of diabetes in patients who came for dental treatment to the Oral Diagnosis & Medicine Department of Sir Syed Dental Hospital, Qayummabad, Karachi, and to provide awareness of diabetes among them. The data were collected in two months duration (October and November 2017) from 35 diabetic patients (males = 11, females =24) and 74 non-diabetics patients (males =27, females = 47). Inclusion criteria for the study were patients over 30-years old, diagnosed with Diabetese Mellitus for more than 2 years.

Statistically significant difference was found between diabetic and non-diabetic patients in association with dental caries, periodontal disease, xerostomia, burning sensation, candidiasis, missing teeth, geographic tongue, taste abnormalities, impacted third molars and lichen planus.