Periodontal changes in children and adolescents with diabetes: a case-control study.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the level of oral disease in children and adolescents with diabetes.


METHODS
Dental caries and periodontal disease were clinically assessed in 182 children and adolescents (6-18 years of age) with diabetes and 160 nondiabetic control subjects.


RESULTS
There were no differences between case and control subjects with respect to dental caries. Children with diabetes had significantly higher plaque and gingival inflammation levels compared with control subjects. The number of teeth with evidence of attachment loss (the hallmark of periodontal disease) was significantly greater in children with diabetes (5.79 +/- 5.34 vs. 1.53 +/- 3.05 in control subjects, unadjusted P < 0.001). When controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, gingival bleeding, and frequency of dental visits, diabetes remained a highly significant correlate of periodontitis, especially in the 12- to 18-year-old subgroup. In the case group, BMI was significantly correlated with destruction of connective tissue attachment and bone, but duration of diabetes and mean HbA(1c) were not.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that periodontal destruction can start very early in life in diabetes and becomes more prominent as children become adolescents. Programs designed to promote periodontal disease prevention and treatment should be provided to young patients with diabetes.
Lalla
Evanthia
E
Division of Periodontics, Columbia University Medical Center, Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery, 630 W. 168th St., PH7E-110, New York, NY 10032, USA. el94@columbia.edu
Cheng
Bin
B
Lal
Shantanu
S
Tucker
Sid
S
Greenberg
Ellen
E
Goland
Robin
R
Lamster
Ira B
IB
D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*
D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin