Association Between Oral Health Status and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Among Sudanese Adults: a Matched Case-control Study

Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical and subjective oral health indicators of type 2 diabetic patients (T2DM) with age and gender matched non-diabetic controls. A second aim was to identify clinical and subjective oral health indicators that discriminate between well-controlled and poorly controlled T2DM patients as well as between patients with long and short duration of the disease.

Methods: A total of 457 individuals participated in the study (154 T2DM cases and 303 non-diabetic controls). The T2DM group was sub-divided according to metabolic control [(well-controlled: glycosylated haemoglobin test 8%), (poorly controlled: glycosylated haemoglobin test > 8%)] and according to duration of T2DM [(long duration: >10 years), (short duration: 10 years)]. Participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire including socio-demographics, lifestyle and oral health related quality of life factors. The clinical examination comprised full mouth probing depths, plaque index, tooth mobility index, furcation involvement and coronal and root surface caries.

Results: The T2DM patients presented with more probing depths 4 mm, furcation involvement, tooth mobility, missing teeth, and oral impacts on daily performance (OIDP). The corresponding adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were 4.07 (1.74-9.49), 2.96 (1.36-6.45), 5.90 (2.26-15.39), 0.23 (0.08-0.63) and 3.46 (1.61-7.42), respectively. Moreover, the odds ratio was 2.60 (1.21-5.55) for the poorly controlled T2DM patients to have high levels of mobility index and 2.94 (1.24-6.94) for those with long duration of T2DM to have high decayed, missed and filled teeth (DMFT) values.

Conclusion: This study revealed that chronic periodontitis, tooth mobility, furcation involvement and OIDP were more prevalent among T2DM patients compared to their non-diabetic controls.