Assessment of periodontitis as a predictive sign of occurrence of type-II diabetes mellitus

This study aimed to affirm that periodontitis is a possible early sign of Diabetes Mellitus (DM), and to determine the incidence of undiagnosed Pre-Diabetes Mellitus (Pre-DM) and DM in patients with stage III or IV periodontitis. This is a case-control study. Patients with stage III/IV periodontitis with no previous history of DM were included. Patients with age less than 30 years, with a history of DM, current pregnancy, anemia, thalassemia, kidney disease or chronic liver disease were excluded. Patients with no periodontal clinical attachment loss were considered as control group. Information about known risk factors of DM was collected from all participants. Control group were matched with cases in terms of age and sex. Once all clinical periodontal parameters were collected clinically, all self-reported data was obtained and blood samples were collected and analyzed for HPLC HbA1c. There were 200 participants recruited (100 periodontitis: 100 non-periodontitis) with ratio of 1:1. In total, 101 individuals with abnormal HbA_1C (≥ 5.7) were identified: 11 (11%) and 4 (4%) were potentially DM, and 41 (41%) and 45 (45%) were potentially pre-DM in cases and controls, respectively. Cases and controls were matched for age and sex. Statistically, no differences were found between the groups in terms of sociodemographic and distribution of known DM risk factors. Analysis of the study data indicated that the clinical significance of periodontitis as a potential sign of DM. In addition, the results form this study suggested that oral health professionals have the opportunity to identify pre-DM and DM in dental patients and refer them to their physicians for further assessment and management.