The Relationship Between Diabetes and Periodontal Disease
Debora C. Matthews, DDS, Dip Perio, MSc
Journal of the Canadian Dental Association
March 2002, Vol. 68, No. 3
A b s t r a c t
There is good evidence to support the claim that periodontitis may be more prevalent among diabetic patients than nondiabetic people. Similarly, studies have shown that periodontal therapy influences glycemic control in people with diabetes mellitus. Given that nearly 10% of Canadians are affected by either type 1 or type 2 diabetes (including those in whom the disease is undiagnosed), all dentists will encounter patients with diabetes. Dental practitioners must be aware of the implications of this relationship and manage their patients’ periodontal care accordingly.
MeSH Key Words: diabetes mellitus/complications; periodontal diseases/complications; risk factors
By the year 2010, it is expected that 3 million Canadians will be afflicted with diabetes mellitus.1 It has been reported that for every person known to have diabetes, there is someone else in whom the disease remains undiagnosed.2 In other words, up to 10% of Canadian adults may currently have diabetes. This means that dentists will regularly encounter diabetic patients. This paper discusses the possible impact of diabetes on the periodontal patient and the ways in which untreated periodontitis may influence the course of diabetes.
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia due to defective secretion or activity of insulin.1 In the current classification of this condition, the terms “insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus” and “noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus” are not used, in part because they relate to treatment rather than to the diagnosis. A conclusive diagnosis of diabetes mellitus is made by assessing glycated hemoglobin levels; in those people with
diabetes, sequential fasting plasma glucose levels will be 7 mmol/L or more.
Diabetes mellitus can be classified into 1 of 4 broad categories according to signs and symptoms.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus encompasses diabetes resulting primarily from destruction of the beta-cells in the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas. This condition often leads to absolute insulin deficiency. The cause may be idiopathic or due to a disturbance in the autoimmune process. The onset of the disease is often abrupt, and patients with this type of diabetes are more prone to ketoacidosis and wide fluctuations in plasma glucose levels. If untreated, these patients are likely to manifest the classic signs and symptoms of diabetes: polyuria (excessive urine output), polydipsia (excessive thirst) and polyphagia (excessive appetite), as well
as pruritis, weakness and fatigue. These patients are more likely to suffer severe systemic complications as a result of the disease.
The causes of type 2 diabetes mellitus range from insulin resistance with relative insulin deficiency to a predominantly secretory defect accompanied by insulin resistance. The onset is generally more gradual than for type 1, and this condition is often associated with obesity. In addition, the risk of type 2 diabetes increases with age and lack of physical activity, and this form of diabetes is more prevalent among people with hypertension or dyslipidemia. Type 2 diabetes has a strong genetic component, with the disease being more common in North Americans of African descent, Hispanics and Aboriginal people. People with type 2 diabetes constitute 90% of the diabetic population.
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is glucose intolerance that begins during pregnancy. The children of mothers with GDM are at greater risk of experiencing obesity and diabetes as young adults.3 As well, there is a greater risk to the mother of developing type 2 diabetes in the future.
A wide variety of relatively uncommon conditions fall into the category of “other specific types.” These consist mainly of specific genetically defined forms of diabetes and diabetes associated with other diseases or drug use.
Complications of Diabetes
The complications of diabetes are related to long-term elevation of blood glucose concentrations (hyperglycemia). Hyperglycemia results in the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs).4 These AGEs act to “prime” endothelial cells and monocytes, making them more susceptible to stimuli that induce the cells to produce
inflammatory mediators. Accumulation of AGEs in the plasma and tissues of diabetic patients has been linked to diabetic complications. There is some speculation that
AGE-enriched gingival tissue has greater vascular permeability, experiences greater breakdown of collagen fibres and shows accelerated destruction of both nonmineralized connective tissue and bone.5 Apart from the accumulation of AGEs, the pathophysiology is strikingly similar to that of periodontal disease.
Long-term complications may occur in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Macrovascular complications include coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease. Microvascular complications include retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy. Retinopathy may lead to blindness, whereas progressive renal disease can lead to kidney failure. Peripheral neuropathy may lead to loss of limbs and dyesthesias (burning sensations).3 In terms of oral manifestations, the patient may experience delayed wound healing and xerostomia, as well as an increased susceptibility to periodontal disease6 (see Table 1).
Periodontal Disease as a Complication of Diabetes
Periodontitis has been referred to as the sixth complication of diabetes.6 A number of studies found a higher prevalence of periodontal disease among diabetic patients than among healthy controls.8 In a large cross-sectional study, Grossi and others9 showed that diabetic patients were twice as likely as nondiabetic subjects to have attachment loss. Firatli8 followed type 1 diabetic patients and healthy controls for 5 years. The people with diabetes had significantly more clinical attachment loss than controls. In another cross-sectional study, Bridges and others10 found that diabetes affected all periodontal parameters, including
bleeding scores, probing depths, loss of attachment and missing teeth. In fact, one study has shown that diabetic patients are 5 times more likely to be partially edentulous than nondiabetic subjects.11 People with type I and type 2 diabetes appear equally susceptible to periodontal disease and tooth loss.
Other factors are involved in the high prevalence of periodontal diseases in association with diabetes. The relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease appears to be very strong within certain populations, such as Aboriginal peoples,12,13 which indicates a genetic component. A recent study found that smoking increases the risk of periodontal disease by nearly 10 times in diabetic patients.14 According to these results, the management of diabetic patients should
include strong recommendations to quit smoking. For both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, there does not appear to be any correlation between the prevalence or the severity of periodontal disease and the duration of diabetes.11,15
The Effect of Periodontitis on Diabetes
Recent investigations have attempted to determine if the presence of periodontal disease influences the control of diabetes. There appears to be good evidence to support this hypothesis. Grossi and others16 have suggested that effective control of periodontal infection in diabetic patients reduces the level of AGEs in the serum. The level of glycemic control seems to be the key factor. Tervonen and Karjalainen17 followed diabetic patients and nondiabetic controls for 3 years. They found that the level of periodontal health in diabetic patients with good or moderate control of their condition was similar to that in the nondiabetic controls. Those with poor control had more attachment loss and were more likely to exhibit recurrent disease. This phenomenon has been pointed out by other researchers.18-20 From this, we can conclude that prevention and control of periodontal disease must be considered an integral part of diabetes control.
The principles of treatment of periodontitis in diabetic patients are the same as those for nondiabetic patients and are consistent with our approach to all high-risk patients who already have periodontal disease (see Table 2). Major efforts should be directed at preventing periodontitis in patients who are at risk of diabetes (see Table 3). Diabetic patients with poor metabolic control should be seen more frequently, especially if periodontal disease is already present. Patients with well-controlled diabetes who have good oral hygiene and who are on a regular periodontal maintenance schedule have the same risk of severe periodontitis
as nondiabetic subjects. C
Dr. Matthews is head, division of periodontics, faculty of dentistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Correspondence to: Dr. Debora C. Matthews, Division of Periodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax,
NS B3H 3J5. E-mail: debora.matthews@dal.ca.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions or official policies of the Canadian Dental Association.
References
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16. Grossi SG, Skrepcinski FB, DeCaro T, Robertson DC, Ho AW, Dunford RG, and others. Treatment of periodontal disease in diabetics reduces glycated hemoglobin. J Periodontol 1997; 68(8):713-9.
17. Tervonen T, Karjalainen K. Periodontal disease related to diabetic status. A pilot study of the response to periodontal therapy in type 1 diabetes. J Clin Periodontol 1997; 24(7):505-10.
18. Christgau M, Palitzsch KD, Schmalz G, Kreiner U, Frenzel S. Healing response to non-surgical periodontal therapy in patients with diabetes mellitus: clinical, microbiological, and immunologic results. J Clin Periodontol 1998; 25(2):112-24.
19. Stewart JE, Wager KA, Friedlander AH, Zadeh HH. The effect of periodontal treatment on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Clin Periodontol 2001; 28(4):306-10.
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