Abstract
Diabetic patients tend to suffer from severe periodontitis, which is aggravated in poorly controlled long-term diabetes. We calculated the community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN) and the number of missing teeth in 49 type 2 diabetic patients (DM group) and 30 nondiabetic patients (controls). The DM group was further divided into 4 groups by HbA1C score (DM1 : <5.7, DM2 : 5.8-6.4, DM3 : 6.5-7.9, DM4 : >8.0), and CPITN and the number of teeth lost were measured in each group. The CPITN for all diabetic patients ranged from 1 to 4, but no 0, indicating required oral hygiene instruction. Some 94% of diabetic patients have pathological periodontal pockets over 4mm (scores 3 and 4), compared to 56% in controls, indicating that most diabetic patients had periodontitis. The need for complex periodontal therapy (score 4 : pathological periodontal pocket over 6mm) was significantly higher in diabetic patients (59%) than in controls (23%). The total ratio of scores 3 and 4 was very high in all DM groups, especially the ratio of score 4 in DM4, which was 60%, but no significant difference was seen in the CPITN among the 4 DM groups. The number of missing teeth was significantly higher in the DM group (7.8) than that in controls (1.7). Although the mean number of teeth lost was 10.8 in DM4 and 6.7 in DM1, no significant difference was seen between DM1 and 4. We concluded that type 2 diabetic patients were missing many teeth and required complex periodontal therapy, and that further study is needed to clarify the association of HbA1C with periodontitis severity.
