Periodontal
Therapy May Help Diabetic Patients Improve Sugar Control
[
Submitted by Dr Andreas Siebold on 19 May, 2006 ]
Studies
have demonstrated an association between periodontal therapy and
improved metabolic control in diabetic patients. This study supports
findings related to this association.
CHICAGO - Results of a new study
support the hypothesis that periodontal therapy may improve metabolic
control (lower HbA1c) in diabetic patients. This study appears in
April's issue of the Journal of Periodontology.
The results suggest that periodontal therapy may reduce a diabetic
patient's HbA1c count by as much as 20 percent at three and six months
following treatment. According to the American Diabetes Association,
HbA1c provides patients with a picture of their average blood sugar
changes in the past two to three months and gives them a good idea of
how well their diabetes treatment plan is working. A healthy HbA1c count
is between the ranges of 4.0 to 6.0.
"We found that conventional treatment for chronic moderate
generalized periodontitis, which included a simple, non-surgical
procedure called Scaling and Root Planing (SRP) lowered the study
group's HbA1c count from 7.2 to 5.7," said study authors Prof.
Antonio Bascones and Dr.Ricardo Faria- Almeida from Department of
Medicine and Buccofacial Surgery of the Complutense University in Madrid
Spain. "This could significantly put diabetic patients who are just
above the normal HbA1c range into the healthy range and reduce their
risk of serious complications from diabetes."
Bascones cautioned that these findings should not be considered
definitive or universally generalizable because of the study sample
size. In addition, this study compared the response to conventional
periodontal treatment between type 2 diabetic and non-diabetic patients
with chronic moderate generalized periodontitis and did not include a
group of diabetics that was not undergoing periodontal treatment. The
absence of this information is a limitation because it is not known how
diabetic patients who were not undergoing periodontal treatment would
have progressed.
"For a long time we've know that diabetic patients have a higher
risk of developing periodontal disease compared to non-diabetics,"
said Kenneth A. Krebs, DMD and AAP president. "The results of this
study provide additional evidence about the other side of the equation:
that periodontal treatment may affect metabolic control in diabetic
patients who have periodontal disease. While we can't say periodontal
treatment will definitively help, to date no reports indicate a harmful
effect of periodontal treatment on a diabetic patient's metabolic
control."
