Caries Experience and Glycemic Control in Type I Diabetic Children

Objective:  To compare caries experience of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (Type I Diabetes) children with a non-diabetic cohort; and to determine any correlation between caries experience and level of glycemic control in the diabetic children. Method:  A total of 409; 6 - 15 year-old children were examined during the study. The diabetic group consisted of 189 children, 93 (49.2%) male and 96 (50.8%) female with a mean age of 10.0 (SD 2.6) years. The non-diabetic group consisted of 220 children, 100 (45.5%) male and 120 (54.5%) female with a mean age of 10.8 (SD 2.7) years. The diabetic group consisted of children registered in Diabetes Centers of various major hospitals; and the healthy children were randomly selected from schools in Riyadh. The schools were also randomly selected from a list provided by the Saudi Ministry of Education and Training. Ethical approvals were obtained from all the concerned institutions. A written consent was taken from parents of all the selected children. All the children were examined for dental caries using WHO criteria for the diagnosis of dental caries. The level of glycemic control (HbA1c) in the diabetic children was assessed from their most recent medical records. Result:  The mean Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth (DMFT) score (combined primary and permanent teeth) was significantly (P=.001) high in diabetic children (5.64; SD 4.36) as compared to the non-diabetics children (4.36; SD 3.41). Decay was the major component of the DMFT score both in diabetic (4.3; SD 3.95) and non-diabetic (3.15; SD 3.0) children. There was no association (P=.19) between caries experience and level of glycemic control in the diabetic children. Conclusion: The caries experience was high in Type I diabetic children as compared to the non-diabetic children; and the caries experience in diabetic children was not related to the level of glycemic control.