Dynamics of dental preservation indicators in patients with diabetes mellitus

Objective. To determine sex and age differences in dental preservation in diabetic patients. Materials and Methods. 218 charts of patients with DM were selected from 4887 medical records of dental patients who visited the Republican Dental Polyclinic of Izhevsk in 2021–2023; the comparison group was formed according to the “case – control” principle. Subgroups were formed according to the WHO classification: middle, elderly and old age. The number of missing and preserved teeth, the location on the jaws, and the class of the denture defect were evaluated. Results. The main contingent of the municipal dental polyclinic consisted of people of retirement age – 80.7 %, working patients – 16.0 % and non-working – 3.3 %. Patients with DM amounted to 5.5 %, 93.3 % of whom were elderly and senile persons, predominantly women (75.0 %, p≤0.001). The number of extracted teeth in diabetic patients was 13.7 ± 0.8 in middle age, 14.4 ± 0.6 in elderly and 15.5 ± 0.95 in old age, which was 1.5 times larger than in the comparison group, with higher rates in the middle age group in women and on the contrary lower rates in the old and elderly age groups (p≤0.01). Tooth preservation in patients with DM was 1.5 times lower and decreased with age: on an average – 23.8 ± 7.3 points, in elderly age – 26.6 ± 2.5 and in senile – 22.2 ± 2.5 (p≤0.01). The scores of women with diabetes were higher, especially in the elderly patients (p≤0.001). Complete absence of teeth was observed in 89.9 % of patients with DM, more frequently on the upper jaw (p≤0.001). Conclusions. In patients with diabetes mellitus tooth loss occurs more quickly and is not associated with age-related changes, which is confirmed by the pronounced correlation between the absence and preservation of teeth, while in healthy patients a significant relationship between the age and the absence of teeth was established.