Dentistry and the Diabetic Patient
Ongoing research indicates that there is a connection between diabetes and gum disease. Since diabetes affects 23.6 million people in the United States the connection is very important in successfully treating gum disease.
Diabetes is a group of chronic diseases resulting from defects in insulin production, action, or both. It is characterized by hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). High blood sugar interferes with normal metabolism and eventually tissue healing and health. Diabetics whose disease is controlled either by diet or medication can expect reasonable healing and tissue response in treatment of gum disease.
Uncontrolled diabetics may develop diminished salivary flow leading to xerostomia (dry mouth). They may also develop improper response to infections and inflammation of gum tissues. These conditions often lead to poor response to gum treaments and require more agressive treatment.
Some dental patients do not know that they have diabetes. This can lead to disappointing treatment results for gum disease. Diabetes Screening Tests are important for:
>Every new dental patient with a familiy history of diabetes
>Annually for all patients over the age of 60
>All existing patients during health history and risk assessment
updates and thereafter every 5 years unless over the age of 60
At St. Louis Hills Dental Group we will continue to keep current with changes and advancements in the treatment of diabetes and gum disease.
For more information call St. Louis Hills Dental Group at 314-644-0440 or leave us a message on this website.
Tags: dental health, diabetes
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 19th, 2010 at 3:35 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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