Blood glucose levels in type-2 diabetics submitted to periodontal treatment

Abstract

Periodontal disease is an infectious and inflammatory nosology of multifactorial characteristics. Although diabetes mellitus has been definetely considered a risk factor to periodontal diseases, frequent questions about if the periodontal infection can possibly compromise the diabetes control have been asked very frequently. The objective of this present study was to evaluate the effects of the reduction of the periodontal infection and swelling process in those individuals who have Type 2 diabetes mellitus. In order to evaluate that possible influence, 45 Type 2 diabetics, treated by The Diabetic Center of Bahia and metabolically controlled, were evaluated in relation to the plaque index, the presence of calculus, bleeding on probing, probing depths and the percentage of glycated hemoglobin in the period of 60 and 120 days; they constituted the test group (25) and the control group (20). The results collected after 60 days of periodontal treatment showed significant qualitative advance in the periodontal health of those individuals in the test group, when compared to the average level of the control group. Those findings reaffirm the assumptions that the improvement in periodontal health is a positive factor in the control of diabetes mellitus. After a 120 day treatment, the recovery of the periodontal health continued stable as well as the plasmatic concentration of glycated hemoglobin. Further redesigned experimental protocols might provide new information, which, associated with the conclusions of this study, will contribute to reinforce this correlation.