Patients’ Understanding of the Relationship Between Their Diabetes and Periodontal Disease

Abstract

Introduction: There is a paucity of research on awareness, education, and interventions that address increased risk of developing periodontal disease, the sixth complication of diabetes. Examining the knowledge of patients with diabetes and understanding of the bidirectional relationship between periodontal disease and diabetes could inform future diabetes self-management care. We assessed the knowledge and understanding of the bidirectional relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease; examined gender, education, and income differences in this knowledge and understanding, as well as other differences in dental hygiene practices. Methods: A Web-based survey was conducted using a convenience sample of patients with diabetes. Results: A total of 927 patients with diabetes participated in the study. Gender and education were significantly associated with knowledge and understanding of the bidirectional relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease in patients with diabetes. After controlling for diabetes duration, dental insurance status, and other covariates, males had less knowledge and understanding of the bidirectional relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease compared with females (P < .0001). Those with higher education (P < .002) and those who received health care provider recommendations to obtain regular dental visits (P < .00001) had greater understanding of the association between diabetes and periodontal disease. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for 1) educating male and low-education patients with diabetes in particular about their increased risk of periodontal disease and the need for regular dental visits, and 2) health care providers and dental health providers to work together to address the needs of their diabetic patients.

Knowledge of bidirectional relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease among diabetes patients: A systematic review

“…In addition, a total of seven studies were included by manual search. Finally, 24 studies 27–50 were included in the qualitative synthesis. Some studies that initially appear to meet the inclusion criteria were later excluded due to different reasons as follows: did not evaluate the bidirectional relationship (15), or did not include people with diabetes (3) and based on exclusion criteria (study design) (3) were excluded.…”

“…The characteristics of the 24 included studies are outlined in Table 2. All included studies used a cross‐sectional design 27–50 . A total of 8693 patients were evaluated in all included studies.…”

“…Prevalence of knowledge of relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease ranged from 5.8% 38 to 75.9%, 32 as shown in Figure 2 (8693 patients). Among the included studies, only five 30,32,40,45,48 showed a prevalence of knowledge higher than 50%. Some studies also evaluated oral health behaviors, such as tooth brushing (16 studies) at least 1x/day with a total average of prevalence of 58% (5522 patients), ranging from 5.9% 50 to 97.8%, 41 as shown by Table 3.…”

Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of People Living with Diabetes in South Asia: A Scoping Review

“…Many people reported that they managed their oral health through various self-care oral hygiene practices, primarily through toothbrushing. While most individuals across the review brushed their teeth once daily, toothbrushing twice daily was low compared to populations with diabetes in other regions, such as in Australia [ 61 ], Italy [ 64 ] and USA [ 65 ]. Banyai et al [ 66 ] collected information about oral health behaviours among people with diabetes across 60 countries, with half of respondents originating from Europe and none from South Asia.…”

Remote diabetes screening exercise in the second‐year periodontics course and student perceptions

“…A remote diabetes screening exercise was developed and conducted during the 2020 fall semester using an asynchronous online learning system 2 . This asynchronous learning exercise included a new training video and a prerecorded lecture emphasizing the bidirectional relationship between oral health and diabetes 3 . The newly developed training video provided a detailed demonstration of the proper use of a glucometer.…”