2020 Volume 70 Issue 3 Pages 129-135
It has long been suggested that diabetes has a two-way relationship with periodontal disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between periodontal disease and diabetes according to the severity of periodontitis. Using 4-year cross-sectional data from residents’ health checkups in a rural area of northern Miyagi Prefecture, we analyzed the relationships among HbA1c, an index of diabetes, the number of teeth affected by periodontitis, and number of missing teeth, by multiple regression analysis. Items used in the analysis were HbA1c as the dependent variable, the age, sex, BMI, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, smoking habit, habit of regularly visiting a dental office each year, and volume of stimulated saliva secretion as control variables, and number of teeth with calculus attached, number of teeth with a periodontal pocket depth (PPD) of 4–5 mm (number of teeth with moderate periodontitis), number of teeth with PPD ≥ 6 mm (number of teeth with severe periodontitis), and number of missing teeth including the third molar as independent variables. The results of univariate analysis from 302 residents showed significant positive correlations with HbA1c in the number of teeth with calculus attached, number of teeth with moderate periodontitis, and number of teeth with severe periodontitis. As the results of multivariate analysis, the number of teeth with calculus attached and number of teeth with severe periodontitis showed a significant positive correlation with HbA1c, and the number of missing teeth showed a significant negative correlation therewith. It is considered that PPD ≥ 6 mm is more strongly associated with diabetes, and this study showed factors linked to both aggravation and remission of diabetes in the oral cavity. In the future, strengthening medical–dental collaboration will be more important, and it may be necessary for the treatment of diabetes to treat periodontal disease of diabetic patients, such as the removal of calculus and inflammation management of teeth with severe periodontitis that cannot be recovered.
