According to a recent study performed by researchers at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, "dental visits represented a chance to intervene in the diabetes epidemic by identifying individuals with diabetes or pre-diabetes who are unaware of their condition."
From the nearly 600 individuals who were recruited for the study, half of the group was non-Hispanic, white 40-years-old or older; the other half were Hispanic, or non-white, 30-years-old or older. None of them had been ever told that they have diabetes or pre-diabetes.
"Periodontal disease is an early complication of diabetes, and about 70 percent of U.S. adults see a dentist at least once a year," says Dr. Ira Lamster, Dean of the College of Dental Medicine, and senior author on the paper. "Prior research focused on identification strategies relevant to medical settings. Oral health care settings have not been evaluated before, nor have the contributions of oral findings ever been tested prospectively."
The study unveiled that a simple algorithm composed of two dental parameters, (which are the number of missing teeth and percentage of deep periodontal pockets) was "effective in identifying patients with unrecognized pre-diabetes or diabetes."
"Early recognition of diabetes has been the focus of efforts from medical and public health colleagues for years, as early treatment of affected individuals can limit the development of many serious complications," says Dr. Evanthia Lalla, an associate professor at the College of Dental Medicine, and the lead author on the paper. "Our findings provide a simple approach that can be easily used in all dental-care settings."
Source: The Journal of Dental Research, July 2011
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