Dentists could help detect diabetes in people without diagnosing or identifying people with prediabetes, suggests a recent study.
By identifying people with the disease who are not aware of their condition, dental routine reviews have an opportunity for dentists to help fight the diabetes epidemic, said the authors of the study, of the College of Dental Medicine of the University ofColumbia in New York City.
"Periodontal disease is an early complication of diabetes, and about 70 percent of US adults., Dr. Ira Lamster, Dean of the College of Dental Medicine.“Previous research has focused on research strategies relevant to medical fields.Oral health care environments have not been evaluated before, and the contributions of oral findings had never been evaluated prospectively before. ”
To carry out the study, which appears in the July edition of the Journal of Dental Research, the scientists recruited some 600 people who went to a dental clinic and who had never been said that they had diabetes or prediabetes.Of that group, approximately 530 patients reported having at least one risk factor of the disease, such as hypertension or obesity.Patients received a periodontal exam and blood tests to evaluate diabetes.
The researchers found that only the number of missing teeth and the percentage of deep periodontal pockets could be effective in identifying people with unrecognized prediabetes or diabetes.
Since one in four Americans with type 2 diabetes has not been diagnosed, and those who have prediabees are at a greater risk of type 2 diabetes in addition to heart disease, stroke and other vascular problems, the study authors said that the findings couldProvide a relatively simple way to help fight the diabetes epidemic.