Associations Between Gender, Diabetes Risk, and Periodontal Disease Among Adults Seen in a U.S. Dental School Clinic

Objectives: To investigate the associations between type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk based on the American Diabetes Association Diabetes Risk Test (DRT), periodontal disease, and gender among adults treated at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine clinics.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from adults aged 18-89 years who completed the DRT and had periodontal data available. Clinical and demographic data were obtained from electronic health records. Frequency distributions and chi-square tests were conducted; alpha was set at P<0.05.
Results: There were available data for 6,778 patients regarding periodontal disease (PD) status and DRT; 56.0% (n=3,799) were female. Their mean age=50.9±16.6 years and mean BMI=28.2±5.7 kg/m²; 70% were overweight or obese. There was a significant association between gender and PD (P<0.001); females accounted for 65% (n=435) of those without PD, 61.1% (n=1799) of those with gingivitis, 56.3% (n=311) with mild PD, 53.2% (n=472) with moderate PD, and 45.3% (n=782) with severe PD. Forty percent of the sample (39.7%, n=2690) were [RZ1] at risk for T2DM based on the DRT. Those at risk for T2DM were significantly more likely to have severe PD than any other form of the disease; 31.3% had gingivitis (n=841), 8.3% (n=224) mild PD, 15.7% (n=422) moderate, and 37.2% (n=1,000) severe PD (P<0.001). Among those at risk for T2DM, females were significantly more likely to have no PD (n=112, 9.8%) or gingivitis (n=428, 37.4%) compared to males (n=91, 5.9% and n=413, 26.7% respectively), while males were more likely to have PD (n=1,043, 67.4%) compared to females (n=603, 52.8%) (P<0.001).
Conclusions: Among those at risk for T2DM, females were more likely to have no periodontal disease or gingivitis, whereas males were more likely to have periodontal disease. Of those at risk for T2DM, the greatest proportion had severe PD as compared to gingivitis or mild or moderate PD.