Periodontal disease among adult, new-immigrant, Chinese Americans in Boston with and without diabetes -- a brief communication.
OBJECTIVE
We compared the periodontal disease levels in a population of low socioeconomic status (SES), urban, adult, Chinese American immigrants with and without type 2 diabetes.


METHODS
Dental records of 51 diabetic adults were compared with 102 nondiabetic controls from South Cove Community Health Center, Boston, MA, cross-matched by age and gender.


RESULTS
Our results showed that the proportion of sites with bone loss greater than 5 mm in the mesial areas of teeth was significantly correlated with higher glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (r = 0.35, P-value = 0.01). The number of teeth with mesial bone loss of greater than 5 mm was correlated to increasing HbA1c (r = 0.37, P-value = 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Our preliminary data showed that mesial bone loss greater than 5 mm was correlated with inadequate control of diabetes. The implications and recommendations for the dental care of immigrant Chinese Americans with diabetes were discussed.
Leong
Peggy
P
Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 188 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Peggy_Leong@hsdm.harvard.edu
Tumanyan
Sona
S
Blicher
Brooke
B
Yeung
Albert
A
Joshipura
Kaumudi
K
D000368:Aged; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012923:Social Class; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D014505:Urban Population
D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin