Objectives: The association between periodontal disease severity and diabetes complications and duration in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) was investigated in this comparative cross-sectional study.
Materials and methods: Twenty-nine patients with type 1 DM of < or = 5 years duration were compared with 43 patients with > 5 years duration of DM. Complete medical history and examination and assessments of retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy were performed, followed by assessments of the plaque index (PI), pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and the number of missing teeth by one examiner masked to the diabetic status of the patients.
Results: The number of missing teeth (4 versus 0) and CAL (2.88 vs 2.56 mm) were significantly higher in patients with longer DM duration (p < 0.05). For patients with > or = 5 years DM duration, periodontal disease severity was also greater in patients with one or more DM complications, as assessed by the number of missing teeth (17 vs 0; p < 0.001) and CAL (4.74 vs 2.81 mm; p < 0.01). Stepwise multiple regression analysis associated the presence of > or = 1 DM complications and smoking history with severe attachment loss (CAL > or = 7 mm; p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Periodontal disease severity is associated with both DM duration and the presence of DM complications in this sample of type 1 DM patients.