Destruction of the gingivae can start in children with diabetes as young as 6 years, according to a study published in the February issue of Diabetes Care.
While the link between diabetes and periodontal disease had been established earlier, it was believed that regression of the gingivae began much later and increased with age.
Researchers from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, Mailman School of Public Health and Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, New York, conducted the study.
"Our research illustrates that programs to prevent and treat periodontal disease should be considered a standard of care for young patients with diabetes," said Ira B. Lamster, DDS, MMSc, dean of the College of Dental Medicine and principal investigator on the study.
"Other studies have shown that patients with diabetes are significantly less likely than those without diabetes to have seen a dentist within the past year," said Robin Goland, MD, co-director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center and a coauthor of the report. "This was due to a perceived lack of need, so clearly it’s important that physicians and dentists and their patients with diabetes learn that they need to focus extra attention on oral health."
The study assessed caries and periodontal disease in 182 children and adolescents with diabetes aged 6 to 18 years, as well as in 160 control subjects.
Subjects with diabetes had significantly more dental plaque and more gingival inflammation than did subjects without diabetes. The researchers found early signs of periodontal disease in nearly 60 percent of children with diabetes in the 6- to 11-year-old group, twice the percentage found in children without diabetes in that age range. Nearly 80 percent of subjects with diabetes in the 12- to 18-year-old group had early periodontal changes.
The study is continuing and ultimately will include 700 participants. "It will be extremely interesting to see the results from the entire cohort and to further explore if specific diabetes-associated factors are related to the early development of periodontal disease," said Evanthia Lalla, DDS, MS, associate professor of dentistry, College of Dental Medicine, and lead author of the study.
The study is funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
