IADR Abstract Archives
Signs of Peripheral Neuropathy and Periodontal Disease, are They Linked?
Objectives: Microvascular complications of diabetes are closely related to duration and degree of diabetic control and periodontal disease and oral health might be also be closely associated. The aim was to determine whether periodontal disease is more prevalent and of greater severity among patients with severe diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Methods: One hundred patients with and without the slipping slipper sign (SSS) - a surrogate clinical marker for severe peripheral neuropathy- were recruited from a diabetic outpatient clinic in Trinidad. Demography, indices of oral care and data from the basic periodontal examination (BPE) were used to assess the periodontal health in all patients by two examiners blinded to patients’ SSS status.
Results: The mean age was 55.8 years. Most (77.7%) had either never been to a dentist or last attended a dental clinic more than a year before this examination and 83% did not have a dentist. 61.7% had advanced periodontal disease; having a dentist, wearing dentures and visiting a dentist within the last year were significant factors for patients with SSS. Diabetic patients who did not have a regular dentist were nearly seven times more likely to have SSS than those who did (6.64, 95% CI 1.00-41.84).
Conclusions: The severity of periodontal disease was high within the overall patient population in this study but there was no clinically significant difference between the two groups “with or without SSS”. Conversely, a positive SSS was strongly associated with poor oral health seeking behaviours and use of dentures.
Methods: One hundred patients with and without the slipping slipper sign (SSS) - a surrogate clinical marker for severe peripheral neuropathy- were recruited from a diabetic outpatient clinic in Trinidad. Demography, indices of oral care and data from the basic periodontal examination (BPE) were used to assess the periodontal health in all patients by two examiners blinded to patients’ SSS status.
Results: The mean age was 55.8 years. Most (77.7%) had either never been to a dentist or last attended a dental clinic more than a year before this examination and 83% did not have a dentist. 61.7% had advanced periodontal disease; having a dentist, wearing dentures and visiting a dentist within the last year were significant factors for patients with SSS. Diabetic patients who did not have a regular dentist were nearly seven times more likely to have SSS than those who did (6.64, 95% CI 1.00-41.84).
Conclusions: The severity of periodontal disease was high within the overall patient population in this study but there was no clinically significant difference between the two groups “with or without SSS”. Conversely, a positive SSS was strongly associated with poor oral health seeking behaviours and use of dentures.