Association between type 1 and type 2 diabetes with periodontal disease and tooth loss

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether both type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are associated with increased prevalence and extent of periodontal disease and tooth loss compared with non-diabetic subjects within a homogeneous adult study population.
Material and Methods: T1DM, T2DM and non-diabetic subjects were recruited from the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania. Additionally, T1DM subjects were retrieved from a Diabetes Centre. The total study population comprised 145 T1DM and 2647 non-diabetic subjects aged 20–59 years, and 182 T2DM and 1314 non-diabetic subjects aged 50–81 years. Periodontal disease was assessed by attachment loss (AL) and the number of missing teeth.
Results: Multivariable regression revealed an association between T1DM ( p <0.001) and T2DM ( p <0.01) with mean AL after full adjustment. After age stratification ( p =0.04 for interaction), the effect of T2DM was only statistically significant in the 60–69-year-old subjects (B=0.90 (95% confidence intervals 95% CI]; 0.49, 1.31). T1DM was positively associated with tooth loss (adjusted, p <0.001). The association between T2DM and tooth loss was statistically significant only for females (odds ratios=1.60 95% CI: 1.10, 2.33]).
Conclusions: Our study confirmed an association between both T1DM and T2DM with periodontitis and tooth loss. Therefore, oral health education should be promoted in diabetic subjects.