Periodontal Status of Diabetics Compared with Nondiabetics: a Meta-analysis

Background: This meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association between diabetes mellitus and periodontal diseases by comparing the extent and severity of periodontal diseases between diabetics and nondiabetics.

Methods: A literature search was performed using MEDLINE database for published studies from January 1970 through October 2003 with manual search for references in relevant studies. This meta-analysis was based on 18 comparative cross-sectional studies, three prospective cohort studies and baseline data of two clinical trials that compared oral hygiene, gingival and periodontal status between diabetics and nondiabetics. Heterogeneity was obvious among included studies; therefore, the analysis using random-effects model was conducted.

Results: This study demonstrated that diabetics had significantly worse oral hygiene as measured by the average of plaque index (P1I), higher severity of gingival disease as measured by the average of gingival index (GI) and higher severity of periodontal disease as measured by the average of probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL). However, diabetics had similar extent of oral hygiene, gingival and periodontal disease as measured by percentages of surfaces or sites with specific scores of P1I, GI, bleeding on probing (BOP), PPD and CAL.

Conclusions: Diabetics had a significantly higher severity but the same extent of periodontal disease than nondiabetics.